Isaiah 37:31

Why is it that the mountain hemlocks can attain such stateliness in spite of fierce winter gales and crushing snows? If you look at one of them closely, you will see that it has foliage almost as delicate as a fir, its dark needles being as dainty as fairy feathers. Yet if you try to break a twig or a bough you will learn that therein lies the strength and the tenacious power of the hemlock.

It will bend and yield, but it will not break. Winds may whip and toss it this way and that, but they cannot break it—nor can elements, however fierce, pull its roots out of the ground. For months it may have its graceful form held down by a mighty weight of snow, but when the warm breath of summer winds and the melting influence of summer’s sun relieve it of its burden, it straightens up as proud and as noble as it was before.