When I got up this morning, I didn’t expect that I’d be spending the afternoon reading about giant sequoia trees. So what caused the sudden interest in trees that are native to the USA? For that, I have to thank Jayne Sargeant, who was preaching this morning at Lifecentral church.
Jayne explained that the giant trees (similar to the more famous giant redwoods), grow for hundreds, if not thousands of years. They are often between 250-300 feet tall and have a diameter of over 30 feet. She shared that though you’d expect such a large tree to have a huge root system anchoring it deep into the earth, the surprising fact is that the average sequoia trees roots only go to a depth of a handful of feet. In theory this shouldn’t work, we all know that the taller a building, the deeper and bigger the foundations. Sequoia trees rarely fall over! They withstand strong winds, storms, earthquakes, fires and flooding. How can these giants of the forest (often weighing a colossal 500 tons) stand up to everything that is thrown at them? The key to their success is that they grow very close to each other and have intertwined root systems. They literally hold each other up! Their roots often stretch out up to 150 feet, interacting with a number of other trees.
Jayne likened this to the importance of relationships within churches (and just as true to the issues of isolation and mental health in society at large), that they shouldn’t be reliant on just a Sunday, but are expressed in small groups, in sharing meals and in doing life together. I have also discovered that as well as holding each other up, that sequoias also share nutrients with each other.
There is so much that we can all learn from the sequoias dependence and support of each other. I will leave you to consider these other amazing facts: Giant sequoias bark can be up to 3 feet thick, which pretty much makes them flame resistant, as well as resistant to fungal rot or wood boring beetles (does that remind you of putting on the armour of God?)
The story of the sequoias also speaks into the ministry of Time2, supporting and encouraging our church leaders.
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