Neither Height Nor Depth

It would take more than nine Empire State Buildings stacked one on top of the other to measure the Gulf of Mexico at its deepest point. Bordered by the United States, Mexico, and Cuba, the Gulf of Mexico measures about 550 miles north to south and nearly 1,000 miles east to west—a surface area of more than 930,000 square miles. The Gulf has about 3,700 miles of shoreline and contains 643 quadrillion gallons of water!

The Mediterranean-like sea resembles a deep basin with a wide, shallow rim; about a third is comprised of shallow intertidal areas. The Sigsbee Deep, located in the southwestern quadrant, is the deepest part of the Gulf, measuring from 12,303 to 14,383 feet—experts can’t agree on its exact depth.

The Empire State Building, meanwhile, stands 1,454 feet tall from the ground to the tip of its lightning rod. Construction on the tower began in 1930 and took more than a year to complete. With 102 floors, the building was the world’s tallest until completion of the World Trade Center’s North Tower in 1972. On September 11, 2001, the Empire State Building reclaimed its status as New York City’s tallest building.

Regardless of where you travel, to the top of the tallest building on earth, or to the depths of the deepest sea, God the Omnipresent goes with you. Paul puts it this way: “Neither height nor depth … can separate us from the love of God.”