Lose Your Mind and Find Your Soul

Recently, my wife, Janeese, and I explored the Sequoia National Park in the Sierra Nevada’s of California. John Muir, the famous Scottish born, American naturalist was one of the early explorers of the Sequoias, Yosemite and many other areas that later became National Parks. He was one of the first to see and write about these gigantic trees. In fact, he was an early advocate for the preservation of all of the American wilderness and is called the “Father of the National Parks.”

While visiting the Sequoias, I saw numerous quotes from John Muir, but this one sign with a quote from him really stuck out to me, “Into the forest I go to lose my mind and find my soul.” There is a spiritual truth here I have found to be a blessing for me. As I wonder into God’s creation and reflect on the

magnificence found in the beauty of the trees, the plants, the mountains, the wildlife, the rivers and streams, my soul is drawn closer and closer to God.

We have visited many of the National Parks over the years, but this was our first time to hike among the giant Sequoia trees in Sequoia National Park. I must say that it was truly inspiring and caused me to be filled with awe and wonder as well as gratitude to our creator. Standing at the foot of any one of these giant Sequoia trees and looking up at it’s massive trunk and huge branches is the kind of

experience that causes one to reflect on your soul, your existence and your place in the world! Walking in these forests in the midst of these mammoth trees feels like you are walking in the wonderland of the prehistoric Garden of Eden!

Did you know? Sequoias are the largest trees in the world. The tallest Sequoia is 311 feet. The oldest one is 3,200 years old. They only grow in this one part of the world in the Sierra Nevas of California between 5,000 and 7,500 feet elevation.

The Sequoia trees were so awe inspiring to me they caused my soul to want to

reflect in wonder and worship our Creator God! They are more beautiful than any man made cathedral ever built, and that is saying a lot since I have seen and been inspired by many of the most incredible cathedrals in Europe.

Let me give you an example of what we experienced and why it challenged and inspired our souls: The General Sherman Tree is one of the most famous Giant Sequoia trees - it largest living thing on the planet at 36.5 feet in diameter, 52,500 cubic feet, 1,385 tons, 275 feet tall and 1,000 years old. As big as it is, it’s still not the tallest Sequoia or the biggest around or the oldest. But by volume, it is the largest tree in the world, because of the fact that its diameter is very wide all the way to the top.

As I stood there staring up at this giant tree, I said out loud to Janeese, “How can anyone NOT believe in a Creator / a Divine Designer?” The experience caused me to reflect on some of the following things. There is no logical explanation for the wonder and majesty of this incredibly beautiful tree. Some would have us

believe that these Sequoias and all the beautiful trees, plants, animals, mountains, rivers and streams in the world including precious human beings evolved by mere chance from some single cell organism that formed over millions of years in a primeval swamp. I was an Animal Science Major at Auburn, and I remember something I learned in a college course about the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics that essentially states that systems tend to naturally evolve from a state of order to disorder. Take a deck of cards for example. There is only one way for them to be perfectly ordered (spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs all in order), but there are countless ways for them to be disordered. Same is true in life. Things tend to get messy, objects degrade and systems become less efficient over time. My point is this: science tells us that things do not tend to evolve naturally toward being more complex and precise. Therefore, the beautiful and intricate creation we live in could not and did not evolve from a random mixture of gas and chemicals to become a living cell that eventually led to vastly complex living organisms which are now creatures and plants of the land and sea. The plants and trees, the humans and all the other land animals and sea creatures are not simply the

result of millions of years or billions of years of evolution. Remember, things do not naturally more toward being more and more complex. God created this amazing, extraordinary and complex planet earth, and all of its fascinating creatures, trees, plants, rivers, streams and oceans are his handiwork. And, of course, you can add on the two trillion galaxies that are exponentially

complicated, connected and operate in a very distinct and exact order. Now. Back to the Sequoias. Hiking in the presence of these giant

Sequoias feels like you are in a breathtaking wonderland that time forgot.

Beautiful green ferns blanketed the ground as the giant trees rose above them and made you feel extremely small, and yet the wonder of it all filled me with a

marvelous feeling as I meditated on being a part of Gods handiwork able to enjoy His inspiring creation. On these hikes in these enchanting forests amidst these towering trees, it inspired me also to reflect on the most important question in philosophy as posed by Brian Cox (philosopher/ physicist/astromer): “What does it means to live a finite, fragile life in an infinite and eternal universe?” His

answer (as a non-believer): “While we are a only a speck of dust on a planet around one star among 400 billion stars in two trillion galaxies, we are the only ones and the only means by which the universe understands and explains and explores itself.”

While this is true in one sense…..

I would add this: Because we are created in the image of God, and because we understand the universe and creation from a Biblical worldview, we worship our Creator God and give Him Glory and honor with our praises! Why? Because while we are humbled and grateful realizing that while we are but a small speck in the universe, yet we know too from God’s Word that we are also created in God’s image (Genesis 1:26 “Let us make human beings in our image”). Therefore, we are His image bearers, and we walk in His glory as men and women fully alive. The Bible indicates that we as human beings are the crown of his creation. And we are new creatures in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17). Jesus also said in John 10:10, that he “came so we might live life to the fullest (abundantly)”. Irenas, the great Church Father also reminds us, “the glory of God is man fully alive.”

My point is this. While we are to walk with Christ in humility, we are also called as Christ followers to walk in His glory. If Christ is in us, then the glory of God is in us too. We are as magnificent as any Sequoia Tree and even more so, because we are created in our Creators image … we are His image bearers. May we be

inspired by His creation like the beautiful giant Sequoias, but may we also be

inspired by what we are created to be as His Image bearers.

Remember: Just as the giant Sequoia trees reveal his extraordinary creativity and radiate His glory. You too are a wonder of His creation, and you too can radiate His glory as you seek to walk closer and closer to Christ. Paul reminds us in

Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

So, I encourage you to take a walk in the woods soon (or on the beach or the lake). While you are there, try to “lose your mind” (turn off the noise of the world in your brain) and seek to “find your soul” as you ponder the fact that though you feel so very small in this big old world, you are in fact created in the image of your Creator who loves you and has a plan for your life!