On a recent trip to San Francisco, friends took us to Sequoia National Park to walk among its famous redwood giants. Five of the world’s largest trees are found in this park. I have seen many beautiful photographs of these famous giants over the years, but nothing comes close to the exhilaration that comes with standing in their presence.
Giant sequoias are nature’s skyscrapers. They are the tallest living trees on earth, reaching up to 379 feet (115.5 m) in height and up to 29.2 feet (8.9 m) in diameter. They live 1,200–1,800 years or more and are among the oldest living things on Earth. Each tree weighs around 2 million pounds or more. (info. from Wikipedia)
I wondered just how deep and strong the roots of these majestic trees would have to go in order to hold up tons and tons of hardwood, branches and foliage, plus keep the trees standing straight, tall and true.
Depth is often a factor in anchoring the tree firmly to the ground. Typically, a tree’s root system is 3 times the size of what we see above the ground. But not so with the mighty sequoias!
I was surprised to learn that these gigantic trees have matted, shallow root systems that go down to depth of just 12 to 14 feet!
How on earth do they anchor and support the structure and weight of the mammoth trees?
The roots of the sequoias intertwine underground and form a vast, strong network that can hold the gigantic trees upright. The trees are interdependent. The roots of one help hold up others just as the roots of the others in turn help hold up the one. They are inseparable. They need each other. Their fates are linked together – what happens to one tree affects the others.
I wandered through the forest breathing in this beautiful picture the trees painted for me of true community, pondering over the John Donne poem from my childhood:
No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend’s
Or of thine own were:
Any man’s death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
And well known words from 1 Corinthians 12 took on deeper meaning.
“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ…
…For the body does not consist of one member but of many.
If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together…
If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”
May we be strong enough to stand alone, be unique enough to stand apart, but be wise enough to know that we are connected and need one another!
~shini abraham, ©2017, duco divina – contemplative doodling
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