The idea of the desert as being a place where we escape the pressures of everyday life in order to hear God speak afresh is intimately associated with Jesus' 40 days in the wilderness - our model for keeping Lent today. It is easy to gain a romantic idea of desert sands beneath starlit skies, but in reality the desert is a hard palce tat tests our endurance and few venture there, geographically or emotionally. Reflecting on the work of writers such as Salman Rushdie and R.S Thomas, and bands such as the "Manic Street Preachers," Leslie Griffiths explores the deserts in today's world and...