When my son came to San Jose, we discussed what to do while he was here. I asked to go to the Muir Woods National Monument. I hadn’t been there in a number of years—since before the Pandemic.

As you may know, Muir Woods is an easy place to see Redwoods if you live in San Jose. Depending on traffic, it’s about a 2-hour drive, going north through San Francisco and over the Golden Gate Bridge.

As we approached Muir Woods, we smelled the living-scent of trees—a welcome change from the city-scents of San Jose and San Francisco.

At Muir Woods, we walked along the main trail that connects the best views of the redwoods.

One of my pet peeves is the way that people overuse the word “amazing”.  Their default description of anything is to say, “It was amazing!”.

But the Redwoods truly deserve to be described with the word “amazing”!

It’s not just that the trees are amazingly tall. It’s that the trunks of the trees are amazingly straight.

At some point along my walk, there was a plaque with a picture that showed how amazingly tiny the seed of a redwood is—smaller than a quarter of an inch long and an eighth of an inch wide.

I couldn’t help but think of Jesus’s parable about the mustard seed.

Jesus was using parables to teach about the Kingdom of God. (Matthew 13:10-17). One of those parables was an illustration based on how tiny a mustard seed is and how big it grows.

Jesus said:

“What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”

The branches of Redwood trees certainly are large enough for birds to perch on. The trees themselves grow taller than 300 feet. The branches grow to  correspondingly gigantic sizes. More than large enough for many types of birds to perch on them.

The shade creates a micro-climate that nurtures and preserves many types of fragile life that cannot exist elsewhere.

Similarly, the Kingdom of God nurtures and preserves many types of fragile life that cannot exist away from the Presence of the LORD—fragile life that cannot exist without compassion, grace, forbearance, abundant love, faithfulness, and forgiveness in ways that limit the bad consequences of bad choices as much as feasible. (Exodus 34:6-7).

Cathedral Grove is a place within Muir Woods that nurtures and preserves the fragile life of the cause of Peace—the cause of Shalom. It is a place where people are asked not to make noise. The goal is to encourage meditation and contemplation amidst the awestruck silence of a “cathedral” of soaring trees.

Cathedral Grove commemorates a time when Muir Woods nurtured the formation of the United Nations.

In 1945, the Delegates from many nations were in San Francisco to finalize and sign the Charter of the United Nations. Before President Roosevelt’s death in May 1945, he had hoped for a gathering at Muir Woods to draw inspiration from Nature for the cause of Peace.

To prevent another world war, Roosevelt pushed the victorious nations of World War II to establish an international organization to help fulfill his yearning for:

a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.

The first is freedom of speech and expression—everywhere in the world.

The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way—everywhere in the world.

The third is freedom from want—.  .  . everywhere in the world.

The fourth is freedom from fear—anywhere in the world.

The Preamble to the UN Charter protects these four essential human freedoms by resolving that:

We the peoples of the United Nations—determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind—

reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women, and of nations large and small; and

establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other obligations of international law can be maintained; and

promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

And for these ends,

practice toleration and live together in peace with one another as good neighbors; and

unite our strength to maintain international peace and security; and

ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institutions of methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest, and

employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples.

Obviously, the United Nations has failed to fulfill these lofty aspirations. Like all humans and all human institutions, the United Nations has gone astray. (Isaiah 53:6).

Nevertheless, the “Redwoods” of the Kingdom of God (sprouting from seeds planted by the words of Jesus) grow straight and true. Unlike humans and human institutions warped by the Powers of Money,  Religion, and Kingdoms of this World, the trunks of these Redwoods do not go astray.

Their pleasing scent continues to spread far and wide, encouraging the United Nations (and all individuals, families, faith communities, businesses, political parties, governments, nations, and civilizations) to enjoy the blessings of love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Their pleasing scent continues to spread far and wide as the tiny seeds planted by the Teachings of Moses, the Prophets, and Jesus continue to grow slowly, but surely, into towering Redwoods!

As the Prophet Isaiah foresaw:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

     neither are your ways my ways,

     declares the LORD.

As the heavens are higher than the earth,

     so are my ways higher than your ways

     and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

(Isaiah 55:8-9).

The Prophet Isaiah never saw the Redwoods of California. But if he had gazed upon them in awe as he walked among them and smelled their living-scent, I think he’d have agreed with my realization that:

as the Redwoods are higher than other trees,

     so are the ways of the LORD,

     the Way of Jesus, and

     the thoughts of the LORD,

higher than my ways and my thoughts.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

To put the timing of the UN Charter into historical context, Nazi Germany surrendered to the United  Nations on May 7, 1945. The UN Charter was signed in San Francisco on June 26, 1945. The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. Imperial Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945.

In short, the scent of death hung over Humanity as the Charter of the United Nations sought to establish the scent of life—a life that all Humanity can enjoy to the full (John 10:10)—free to speak, free to worship, free from want, and free from fear.

QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT

Why did Jesus stress that the Kingdom of God grows from tiny seeds?

When have you seen tiny seeds of love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control grow into “Redwoods” of the Kingdom of God manifested by individuals, families, faith communities, political parties, governments, nations, and civilizations? How?

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For related thoughts, please read my blogs “Building Houses on Rock: Mission Impossible?”; “Building Houses on Rock: Mercy and Forgiveness”, “Building Houses on Rock: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”, “Building Houses on Sand: Specks and Planks”, “Jesus Climbs the Temple Mount”, and “Alcatraz: Escaping by Using ‘Countervailing Powers’ Wisely”.