Circus Trees

Gilroy Gardens (Gilroy, California) is a family park where one can find some of the most unusual trees in the World. They are not naturally grown trees, rather they were created and grown by Axel Erlandson, who was born in 1884 to Swedish parents. They immigrated to the United States in 1886. The collection of trees, once known as the “Tree Circus,” was rescued from a forgotten plot in the Santa Cruz mountains and transported to their new home in Gilroy where they are the centerpiece of a horticulturally based theme park.

One can only be amazed that a person would make the effort and take the time to create something so unique. The Basket Tree is the Park’s centerpiece and one of the most intricate of the Circus Trees. It was created from 6 American Sycamores, and its nearly impossible to see where one tree ends and another begins. The trees can be seen online if Gilroy, CA is not on your bucket list.

It is almost incredible that God would spend thousands of years “driving” mankind toward an individual, who, would ultimately be crucified on a tree that He Himself (the Messiah) had made. Yet that is the narrative of Jesus of Nazareth. He created everything, including the trees (see John 1:1ff) by speaking them into existence, and then came to the Earth thousands of years later in human flesh to fulfill His Father’s plan. God had given mankind “the Law” to demonstrate that men and women were incapable of achieving the righteousness required by His perfection, and would need a Savior who could make the only perfect sacrifice.

We celebrate that incarnation (God assuming human flesh) during this season. It is the beginning of one God-Man’s journey to the cross, a tree where the Creator Himself would die in tortured agony to redeem all who would believe.

Don’t miss the narrative of Christ’s tree this Christmas.