We’re on the road again, heading to California! Specifically, to Sequoia National Park, which is known for its giant trees.
Some would say the trees are almost too big to believe.
While the giant sequoia trees are tall, there are actually taller trees elsewhere in California. So rather than height, it’s the circumference, the depth, the sheer volume of life in front of you that is jaw-dropping.
A short hike takes you to General Sherman, the world’s largest known tree.
Again, it’s not the tallest, it’s not even the widest, nor the oldest. But that shouldn’t fool you, General Sherman is the largest by volume and by weight.
A sign at the tree’s base states it could hold enough water to fill almost ten thousand bathtubs, and that it weighs about 1,385 tons. It’s estimated to be 2,200 years old; it’s more than 36 feet across at the base and towers 274 feet above you.
I can imagine it’s something like a flea staring up at a gigantic human.
It’s not hard to imagine that a tree of that size requires a massive root system to support it. Seeing a downed sequoia would confirm those suspicions; the root ball would reveal that the roots of sequoias dig deep for years and years, far longer than any of us have been alive.
No matter how mighty the tree, without roots, the storms and winds and snows of the Sierra Nevada would take out the sequoias long before they could ever the size they are today.
General Sherman, and the trees of Sequoia National Park got me thinking about foundations more generally. We need only to look at buildings to realize that everything needs a strong foundation. Because without the foundation buildings can sink or crumble, subject to weather patterns and other realities of nature.
Our lives are no different. Our lives need a strong foundation too. A foundation that isn’t a thing, but a person.
So, come visit Sequoia with us as we marvel at the wonder of creation!
Grace and peace,
Kimmy
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