Do it Again!

[Brad Fox]

What would God say to a redwood?

As I was walking through the North Grove below the General Grant giant redwood in Sequoia National Park yesterday, I was stunned by the timelessness and stature of these magnificent creatures. The grove was silent and deserted as I strolled through the muted sunbeams streaming down through the lofty canopy. Gigantic trunks, smooth and pleasantly reflective in rosey-orange tones against the soft green needles far above. Strong, buttressed roots straining to hold the tree upright. Limbs thicker than my own body. Tiny seedlings around my feet joining the ancient family inch by inch. Fire scars here and there testified about their struggle to survive. I paused to think about God strolling through this same grove, and many like it, on His daily walk through this part of His incomparable creation. How infinitely tiny and temporal these huge trees are compared to Him. Like a flower compares to us.

I remembered G.K. Chesterton's phenomenal observation from nearly a century ago:
“Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, "Do it again"; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, "Do it again" to the sun; and every evening, "Do it again" to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.”

So what would He say to a redwood? As I self-consciously walked through the grove, I wondered if indeed He might besaying, "Stand! Glorify me with your immense size, strength and beauty. Humble my children, that they might know that I am an incomparable Being, a fiercely creative artist, a profound scientist, the embodiment of eternal beauty. Make them wonder about how they fit into my plan for redeeming the earth and mankind. Make them reconsider their own self-importance in the scheme of the universe. Make them marvel about a Creator Who can create such astonishingly wondrous works."
"Do it again, redwood, for yet another day, another century, another millennium!"
Thanks, God, for inviting me to stroll through Your unique garden!

Like a seed You were sown
For the sake of us all
From Bethlehem’s soil
Grew Calvary’s sequoia

from Seasons by Hillsong