General Sherman

When the world inside my head gets too big, it is time to turn back to nature. I have been here but 40 years, yet the things that surround me have survived so much longer. The water in the creek has seen countless eons go by... the Redwoods of the Pacific Northwest have seen the seasons change for almost 2000 years...the ice in the glaciers existed when man was just an idea in the mind of God. 

Time is such a strange thing. A difficult period in your life may seem to lasts for decades, but it has been only months, yet the moments that you cherish seem only seconds. Mankind has only existed as a small blip in the radar of time, however we find so much importance in ourselves. 

I had the opportunity to visit the Sequoia National Forest in Northern California a few years ago. I stood in front of the General Sherman, whose truck volume is around 52,513 cu ft, making it the largest known tree. It is thought to be between 2300-2700 years old. 

My father, who can make anything seem fascinating, stood there with me. My dad has a way of putting things into perspective and we talked about, just how much this old tree has seen. We talked about how it was here when Christ walked the earth and wondered what its surroundings looked like when it was but a sapling.

The endurance of this tree was awe inspiring. 

And I realized that it is not the outer effects of life that bring us down. It is not what happens out in the world that destroys us. This tree has endured untold number of storms and seasons and still stands. In my 40 years, I have endured storms and watch the seasons pass, yet it is the internal struggles that age me. It is the emotional scars on the bark of my soul which often bring me to my knees.

How General Sherman has survived is his own story. How I survive is mine. I can hurt until I decay and die, or I can learn to survive the seasons of my life with the grace this old tree has shown. 

Sometimes that is easier said than done, but in the moments when life seems too big, perhaps if I will go back in my mind to the General and look up through his branches, my issues will seem smaller and God's grace and endurance bigger. Perhaps His light will filter down through the branches and give me that little bit of inspiration I need to go on. It is in the meditation of the soul upon the majesty of God's creation, that makes this possible.