The Tree of Life

Which tree do you think is the biggest in the word? The giant Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) of California? Well, they are certainly the tallest trees in the world and are the fastest growing conifers in their natural environment; also they are amongst the oldest living things. 

The oldest known specimen was logged in 1933. A count of the growth rings revealed that the tree was 2,200 years old. Most redwoods usually live an average of six centuries. However they fall short of being the biggest trees in the world. 

The giant Sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum) of the Sierra Nevada Mountains of central California are worthy of mention in any list of big trees, but even they fall short of the unexpected "biggest tree" winner. Perhaps the few remaining ancient Kauri trees in New Zealand might head the list, or how about the great banyan (Ficus benghalensis), growing in the Indian Botanical Garden, Calcutta. This massive tree covers an area of 1.2 hectares (3 acres). It has 1,775 prop or supporting roots, a circumference of 412 m (1,350 ft) and was planted in 1787. 

Have you even seen a Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides)? While these trees look magnificent in the autumnal (fall) colors, they are unlikely contenders to win a biggest anything contest. However

there is a grove of Quaking Aspen in the Wasatch Mountains, Utah, USA which "cleans up" this competition without even really trying. 

Not only is this grove likely the one of the oldest, if not the actual oldest living thing in the word, it is undeniably the largest "tree" there is. It's estimated to be more than 10,000 years old! This grove may only be one or two generations removed from the original trees, found as fossilized leaves. 

How so?  Well, this grove is in reality just one tree that has "cloned" itself countless times and now covers more than 100 acres, (43 hectares) and has 47,00 individual stems! The name of the grove is Pando, which is Latin for "I spread". In the arid regions of America's west, aspens rely on "cloning" rather than sexual reproduction for successful colonizing. The aspen of Pando has been spectacularly successful, making it the largest living organism in the world. This method of reproduction relies upon one tree sending out underground suckers, from which grow shoots, which in turn always remain connected to the main root, deep within the soil. 

The Aspen of Utah is the natural world's equivalent of the Body of Christ. 

For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. 1Corinthians 12:12-14 

The individual "trees" in the grove at Pando look just that -individual trees- but if it were possible to look beneath the soil, one would see a vast network of inter-connecting roots, all running back to the original aspen. Just one tree in this grove is indeed the "tree of life".  

I (Jesus) am the True Vine, and My Father is the Vinedresser.  John 15:1 MKJV

I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing. John 15:5 AMP

The term "tree of life" is used in Genesis, and again in the Book of Revelation, the word "tree' appears more than 350 times in the Bible, and is used in both practical and spiritual applications. 

Trees not only serve to meet the utilitarian needs of people everywhere, but also serve as metaphors for spiritual growth and personal responsibility, as well. Trees are literally life giving, as they take the life-depleted carbon dioxide we breathe out and return to us life-giving oxygen. Jesus, as the "tree of life" has taken our "carbon dioxide", our sins and "converted" it into life-giving oxygen. 

Have you been "grafted" into the tree of life yet?