“To Live in this Land: Desert Faith in a Time of Global Warming” focuses on the lessons of faith, hope, and love offered by the landscape and desert faith traditions of the American Southwest and the legacy of Christian desert spirituality.

The desert is central in the Christian faith, but in American culture and religious writings, it is often seen as a place to be feared and conquered. In the Southwest, that sense of dislocation has resulted in rampant over-development, “micro-climates,” and the exhaustion of natural resources.

Moreover, the specter of global warming increases the fear of the desert and the drive to “make it bloom.”

Yet, whether the desert is Sinai or Sonoran, we have much to learn spiritually and practically from lands of little rain and from the people who have been at home and prayed in the desert for generations.

I have three goals. One, a book of essays connecting the theological and ecological issues of life and faith in the American desert. Two, publication of the essays in religious and environmental journals. Three, development of educational resources (e.g., retreats, curricula).

The work would be done in one and two-week periods from March, 2010 to August, 2011.