El Camino Real was first established by dedicated missionaries, who were called to establish bastions of Christianity in this part of the new world. Missions were established starting in 1683 (almost a century before the road was built) and many stand to this day was a testimony. Indeed the names of many cities, e.g. San Diego, Santa Barbara, San Jose, San Francisco, remind us of this heritage. (That sometimes the missionaries did not live up to the standards of Jesus does not diminish the fact of their zeal for Him.)
The Gold Rush, starting in 1848 (after California was ceded to the U.S. following the Mexican War), appealed to those who sought instant wealth. Most of the consequences of this flood of immigrants were predictable, as the forty-niners’ greed, and the disease and lifestyle they brought decimated native Americans, and probably did not improve their lifestyle. [The outcomes for individuals who struck it rich were likely not much different from those who win the lottery in our day.] But this established a concept of California in popular culture that endures.
California became a place to run away to. The prodigal son went to a far country to squander his father’s wealth. Many since the gold rush fled to California, not to spend their inheritance, but perhaps to escape a miserable life, or to get a new start in life. When my maternal great uncle, who was born and raised in Michigan, married a divorced woman, this so offended the other members of his family the he and his bride moved to California in the 1920’s to escape, and had no further contact with them. My father’s parents divorced when he was nine, and continued their war so meanly that my father left Michigan to attend USC in 1941 to escape their incessant battles. California beckoned.
Migrant workers traditionally were viewed as temporary laborers who came from Mexico to California (and a few other states) to be exploited by, I mean, to provide labor for the harvest. Many, perhaps most, traditionally returned home each year. Modern migrants have set up permanent tent encampments on the streets of major cities in California (and other western states). This immigration has been dealt with elsewhere, but undoubtedly these migrants view California as the earthly culmination of their quest for a better life.
Image from Nations Online Project
Recent conditions almost sound like divine judgment. Wildfires and high temperatures suggest a certain supernatural location that is not anybody’s preferred eternal destination. Anyone who has driven in the big metropolitan areas is acquainted with the driving habits of their denizens. Housing prices have soared beyond outrageous to ludicrous. Dare we ask why?
There is a basic problem. It is called original sin (theologically), but we are all acquainted with this problem in practical experience. When we run away, or move to a new location to better our lives, we take ourselves with us. And we have an adversary who will deceive us in unfamiliar settings, and then accuse us when we succumb to his lies. This is not unique to California, but universal to humankind. Why did Jacob go to Paddan-aram to find a wife? Why did Abram go to Egypt when there was a famine? They had legitimate issues and God met them where they went, but the point was that He used their travels as part of His plan to redeem them from self.
We can’t run away from ourselves - our baggage is internal to us until we take it to Jesus
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