As a kid, I was fascinated by the Guinness Book of World Records. It was available in cheap, paperback form on the book order forms that we received annually at my elementary school.
The category “Oldest Living Thing,” or something of that sort, listed the ancient bristlecone pine, a rare tree that can live up to almost 5,000 years. I read with fascination that bristlecone pine are found high in the White Mountains of eastern California, and I always thought it would be so cool to see one in person.
Finally, last year, some 50 years after I first heard about the tree, I finally saw an ancient bristlecone pine with my very own eyes. It’s pretty amazing to see trees that were alive when Abraham sojourned in Canaan.
I won’t call it a spiritual experience, because that’s an over-used phrase. But I will say that seeing these ancient trees prompted me to reflect on life with Jesus.
The first connection the Holy Spirit made for me was between the unique conditions in which bristlecone pines thrive and our unique position in Christ. These trees live above 9,000 feet and prefer a dry climate with relatively acidic soil conditions. This explains their relative rarity, as they simply don’t survive in what we would consider “normal” conditions.
In a similar way, as believers, we thrive in only one special place—in Christ. Colossians 3:3 puts it this way, “For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.” We can try to live on our own, but we’ll only end up dead, like “whitewashed tombs,” as Jesus puts it (Matt. 23:27).
A second connection I observed is the parallel between the extremely slow growth of bristlecones and the growth of a Jesus follower. The trees understandably reproduce paper-thin rings, adding only a miniscule amount of girth each year. They aren’t especially tall like Redwoods or thick like Sequoias, but over an impossibly long period of time these trees grow—and last.
Similarly, we grow—for the most part—slowly, miraculously becoming more and more Christ-like. We may measure our gains more in years and decades than days and months, but we know that godliness will last for eternity.
Finally, these are not the most beautiful trees in the world. “Gnarled” is a generous descriptor. As followers of Jesus we, too, forsake the skin-deep beauty of the world, opting instead for the longer lasting, inner beauty of godly character (I Peter 3:4).
We aren’t trying to be ugly, but ultimately, we know that physical beauty just isn’t worth all that much. Instead, we invest in eternity—which is a whole lot longer than 5,000 years.
Dave Thiessen is executive pastor at Mountain View Community Church in Fresno, California. His responsibilities include helping to develop church vision and direction, School of Ministry, preaching, administration and conflict management. He is a graduate of MB Biblical Seminary and University of British Columbia. He and his wife, Connie, have three children.
