Judeo-Christian Mystical Zionism in Theory & Practice

What Will Drive This Book Publisher

One of my absolute favorite films since I first saw it in high school is The Last Temptation of Christ, Martin Scorsese’s unique depiction of a humanistic, doubting, struggling Christ. It was one of the first DVDs I bought and it’s served as perpetual source of spiritual nourishment and inspiration over the years.

And so this past fall when I was at my lowest, struggling with the new, severe symptoms of my Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and at a loss where I could go to get some peace and quiet to begin recovering, Last Temptation was one of the titles I grabbed. One late night I lay on the floor in agony as every ache and pain throbbed with greater intensity than I’ve ever known.

I didn’t know where to go. Even here in this AirBnB in Topanga Canyon it was still too close to the highway for my now too-intense sense of hearing. And then the scene began with Jesus questioning John the Baptist around the camp fire. Willem Dafoe as an anguished Jesus and Andre Gregory as the wild, bearded prophet of the wilderness deliver their lines in quiet, intimate passion. Jesus rejects the Baptist’s message of anger and the “axe,” of condemnation of idolatry and human evil. The Baptist asks who he will listen to if not him. “God,” Jesus answers back. And then the Baptist delivers the line which I needed to hear: “The God of Israel is a God of the Desert. If you want to speak to Him, you’ll have to go to the desert.”

And then it hit me: “Well, maybe I need to do that. Maybe if I go to the desert then God will tell me what I need to do too.” And so I did and He did.

I pulled up AirBnB again on my phone and searched for desert locations. And what did I find? A teepee for rent cheap in Morongo Valley. I booked it for a few days after my current stay would end. When I arrived at the end of the week a whole new world opened up for me. Morongo Valley was the opening town on the way to Joshua Tree National Park. Following it there are Yucca Valley, the town of Joshua Tree, and 29 Palms, where the largest marine base in the country is located also.

I liked Morongo Valley and the people I met there so much that I extended my stay for weeks, staying in different locations and having new adventures in the “high desert” amidst the beautiful, bizarre Joshua Trees. Here was a spot in California where the people were more down-to-earth, cost of living wasn’t ridiculous, and the hippie ethos of the 1960s reverberated all over the place amidst the thrift shops, used book stores, art galleries, vinyl record shops, and tie-dye for sale on the street.

I’d also found quiet. Out here I could get far from the noise of cars and the blare of police sirens. I could try and calm down when panic attacks or hyperarousal attacks descended. I could isolate myself and try and get back on track with my publishing work and research projects. I could figure out what was the right thing to do and how God wanted me to do His work here on earth with the skills and resources I had at hand.

The idea that the God of the Bible, the God of the children of Israel, is a God “of the Desert” has multiple layers of implications which are so important that I felt it useful to highlight the idea and emphasize it as one which a group of writers and creatives could rally around to define their creative projects.

First, that we are unified in being inspired by a God of the Desert means we are concerned with those who are “in the desert” of suffering, disappointment, pain, illness — whatever our “low” state might be. The God of the Jews and the God who Christ became are Gods interested in the lowest of the low: interested in slaves, interested in prostitutes and murderers, interested in the condemned up crucified on a cross. The Creator of the universe is interested in knowing and loving all — and so should we. This publisher will seek to lift up authors and creatives struggling to tell their stories and make sense of the path forward.

Second, the God of the Desert is a God who bridges together people across the world in continents everywhere. One fifth of the planet qualifies as desert - as in we get 10 inches of rain or less a year. The God of the Desert is the God of the Jews, the Christians, the Muslims — A God who takes many forms to speak in languages for many people to hear. There is so much we can learn from one another and gain from studying each other’s histories and cultures. While I was raised Christian, my faith has deepened so much from learning more about the beliefs, practices and cultures of the Jewish and Muslim peoples. It is so vital to read widely, travel broadly, and open one’s mind to perpetually learn new things and new ways of living.

Third and finally, the desert represents a multitude of forms and manifestations of life. Living out here now for more than six months I’ve seen the great diversity of life out here in the desert and the many kinds of landscape that deserts assume. God of the Desert Books and the podcasts, video, and other media we put out will reflect that. We’re going to put out all kinds of stuff - from light genre novels to serious literary work to aggressive polemical nonfiction arguments, to heart-gripping memoirs. On this Substack we’ll experiment with whatever we feel moved to try across mediums.

Please consider joining us in the comments below. Also reach out to me on Twitter @DaveSwindle.