This isn’t the place, yet. We did not find Zion here. We did not find justice here. We did not find the American Dream here. Our hearts were not big enough.

How do we make our state and hearts deep enough to hold all our stories? All our identities? A heaven big enough to protect us all?

Each person’s story is necessary. Each one gallons in the waters of Utah’s humanity. Missing one made us less. Missing thousands made us stormy. Missing hundreds of thousands made us a hurricane breaking the worlds within and around us.

When we hear each other’s stories, see each other’s truths and accept each other’s humanity, we become fresh water in the desert; a sanctuary that can nourish the world.