Scale

Some things are hard to size up without comparison—especially in photographs. In most of the pictures I took in Sequoia National Park the trees didn’t look gargantuan on their own. I needed scale.

Otherwise the sequoias just looked like cinnamon-colored trees in a forest.

The immensity of the behemoths really came into focus as I sat on a small log backed by a fallen tree’s root ball.

And again, when my husband posed on top of a downed trunk where cars parked for photo ops decades ago.

Even the sugar pines dropped enormous cones. Without Rob’s hand, they looked pint-sized.

Seeing one sequoia was amazing, but seeing a forest of them was almost overwhelming.

The largest tree in the world, by bulk, is the General Sherman tree. When I saw this photo of me in front of it, I was astounded by how tiny I looked. But when I think of the capacity of God’s love for us, that tree is miniscule by comparison.

We have a hard time comprehending immeasurable love because it is so vast. Being loved by one person is enthralling—so to be loved by a God who is larger than the cosmos is, well, mystifying, yet also thrilling. Why not allow yourself to imagine and feel the enormity of God’s love as you look up at the sky today?

Photos © Sondra Sula and Rob Sula (used with permission).

If you like these blogs, you’ll most likely enjoy my daily devotional book, Meditations on Mendocino by Sondra Sula. Available on Amazon in paperback or Kindle versions.