“Reading the Redwoods”

“Reading the Redwoods”

 

In 1956 Woody Guthrie wrote these words which have been heard by millions,

“This land is your land, This land is my land From California to the New York island; From the red wood forest to the Gulf Stream waters This land was made for you and me.”

We’ve been privileged to visit many wonderful sites (and sights) throughout our nation including the magnificent redwoods in California’s Sequoia National Park in 1997. (On the same trip we viewed the incredible natural beauty of Yosemite National Park and the largely man-made places of interest in San Francisco.) During our time in Sequoia (which was on a Sunday morning and provided us with one of the greatest worship experiences of our married life) we learned that the first record of these great trees’ existence was written by a cattleman named Hale Tharp in 1858. People have been awestruck by their grandeur ever since.

In 1913 Joyce Kilmer wrote, “Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tree.” As we walked among these massive “plants” we talked of God’s creative power (“…God said, ‘Let the land produce vegetation’…trees bearing fruit…And God saw that it was good.”—Genesis 1:11-12). Soon both of us began to see pictures of our lives as Jesus’ followers and marveled at our education in God’s school of nature. That night we jotted our thoughts down and decided to share them in a joint message with our church when we got home. (Jim’s suggestion that we write the trip off as a ministry expense was quickly nixed by his better half.)

So the next five postings are the result of our reading the redwoods. Please walk with us among one of the many wonders of God’s majesty.

 

Blessings!

Jim and Karen McMillan