The Thing Beneath the ThingSample

The Power of Connection

Recently I was in Santa Cruz, California. The city is quite unique because you can surf in the morning and then drive a mile and a half from the beach to wander through a massive old-growth redwood forest. When you walk among these ancient giants, you get the feeling you’re thousands of feet up in the mountains, but Santa Cruz is only four hundred feet above sea level. The cooling fog that comes in off the Pacific Ocean creates a perfect environment for redwood trees to thrive.

Here’s what I learned about redwoods. They love to chase the light. They grow about ten feet a year and get 40 percent of their water from drinking the fog. Their trunks are filled with eight thousand gallons of water. 

Redwoods can survive any drought. Their bark is fire resistant, bug resistant, and excellent for construction purposes. They are the tallest trees and some of the oldest living trees on the planet. Because they are almost four hundred feet tall, you would think that their root system would go down some two hundred feet into the earth. But here’s the crazy thing. Their roots go down only somewhere between nine and twelve feet. Nine and twelve feet.

When a redwood tree is planted by itself, it will not withstand even a slight wind. That young tree will topple right over. All its weight is just too much for those shallow roots to bear. But when planted together with other redwoods, they withstand every fierce element. Scientists have discovered that their roots go down nine to twelve feet, and then they go out another one hundred feet looking for other redwoods to interlock their roots with. What allows these trees to withstand the elements is their interconnectedness.

I had a friend who had been sober for over twenty-nine years yet still regularly went to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. I asked him why he still made it a point to go. I’ll never forget his response. “Every time I show up to a meeting,” he said, “there will be some kid coming for the first time, or a mother finally naming her addiction, or a father at the end of his rope. And I want to make sure they see that the program can work. That there is hope. Because if we make it, then I make it.”

Just like the redwoods. They not only interconnect with one another, but they share their resources. If one tree is sick or struggling, it sends out a signal through its root system, and the other trees will redirect their nutrients to sustain the weaker tree. 

Here’s what I need you to understand. Christianity is not a solo sport.

You won’t make it if you try to do this all on your own. It’s when we stand together, walk together, and go through the process of sanctification together that our lives take on such richness.

Jesus taught us to love one another. 

On my last day in Santa Cruz, I made my way back to the forest and stood in the middle of a circle of stately redwoods. Lying on the ground, I stared up at the tops of these giants, each branch covered in golden morning light.

A state park worker stopped by, and we got to talking. I asked him why this grove of trees was formed into an open circle. He explained that when one tree falls, its seeds begin to scatter. And because it is still connected to other roots, its neighboring trees send out nutrients to the new baby offspring, which causes new life to grow from the fallen tree. “Pretty cool, huh?” he said with enthusiasm.

Before I could help myself, I blurted out, “That’s a picture of the gospel! On Good Friday it looked like death had won, but heaven was just getting started. Resurrection power came through, and Jesus came alive.”

We can experience the power of connection like the mighty redwoods when we accept and follow Jesus Christ. We become strong and healthy Christians as we love one another, share Jesus with one another, and grow in our faith together.

Respond

Who are those who stand beside you and help you to be stronger in your faith? 

Describe a time in your life when God sent someone special to stand with you in a difficult time.

Prayer

Thank you, Jesus, for your sacrifice and for those you have placed in life to help me grow stronger.