Resurrection

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot…” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2)

The first hike of our vacation was through the Grove of the Patriarchs, an old-growth forest of Douglas Fir and Western Red Cedar, in Mt. Rainier National Park. The only way to reach the grove is by crossing the Ohanapecosh River via suspension bridge. Once across, visitors can follow a nicely-maintained boardwalk for a leisurely one-mile stroll through the grove.

It felt like the perfect way to start our first national parks adventure, and the trees were amazing. Our first experience of what a tree can grow into, if given the time and chance. And, surprisingly, even the dead trees amazed us. With their massive rotting trunks acting as a nursery for new seedings, these giants told a story of resurrection. Life-giving nutrients from a past generation fueling the growth of the next.

It is just one of nature’s many versions of resurrection. Night follows darkness. Winter follows Spring. The bear emerges from its hibernation. The butterfly emerges from its cocoon. Even the earth itself is being slowly recreated as the oldest rock on the ocean floor is pushed under the continental plates, turning back into magma so that it can eventually rise to the surface again as new land.

Creation constantly reminding us of God’s promise: He is making all things new.