The Paper – Editorial April 2016
Solid Foundations
As we see the new buildings rising at
Barangaroo one can’t help but wonder how such big structures can be built, how
the foundations can be secured for such a high building, and why they don’t
fall over. Those big high buildings,
sitting on a little bit of ground or rock at the bottom – what an incredible
pressure must be exerted on the building foundations!
The three International Tower Buildings
are 49 stories high (IT1), 43 stories (IT2) and 39 stories (IT3)
respectively. Tower 2 has been completed
and an estimated 5,500 people work in the building every day.
And can someone tell me how they take
those big cranes away, which are towering over the top of the building during
construction, 50 stories in the air, when they have finished! If they dissemble the crane, there is no
crane to lower the bits down with after they have pulled it to pieces. Do they take it, piece by piece, down in the
lift after they have finished the building, or is it like the portable car that
you fold up and put in the glove-box!
It is amazing enough for us to look on now
at the emerging constructions and consider what a wonderful engineering feat
they represent. But before it all stared
someone had to have a vision of the concept, work through the ideas and options,
and come up with a proposed finished product.
Then there was the concept high level design, finalising of the
requirement including selection between multitudinous options, followed by detailed
architectural design, then planning for the construction and building
phase. And then came the actual construction,
which is when we started to see that
something was happening, and now the (almost) finished product! Someone had to engage all the builders and site-workers
to be available just when they were needed to contribute whatever they were
required to provide. This involved
hundreds of workers over a period of years.
For example, you could not just ring up the night before and order fifty
loads of ready mixed concrete for the next day – it had to be pre-arranged to
fit in with other requirements of the building program.
When we view the impressive building
complex we feel an assurance that it will be secure and stable. The designers tell us that it has been
designed to survive any sort of wind, weather or earthquake that might be
expected in Sydney. It is interesting that
we talk about “stability” and being “fast and immovable”. We are actually spinning in a circular motion at
a rate of 460 meters per second at the earth’s surface (the equator), and around
the Sun at a speed of about 30 kilometres per second. Hardly “standing still”, but relative to
where we are, it seems like we are stationary.
Someone will no doubt have simple explanations
around these issues, but we need to be careful that the “explanation” does not
obfuscate the real wonder of it all! We
do live in an exciting and wonderful world!
The Bible tells us that God, as Master
Designer, Creator and Builder has made the Worlds we see about us. When we look around us we see the “building”
in the construction phase. However the
Bible also tells us that before God started he had a Vision, a Master Plan for
the whole of the Universe in which we live. We read in the Book of Job in the
Bible (Job chapter 38 verses 4-6) “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations
of the earth?... Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? Or who laid
the corner stone thereof; ” Talking of stability the Builder also says in
Psalm 46, verse 2, “Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed,
and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.” This is a stability beyond the physical
environment. Looking at the building now and seeing where it is at in the construction
phase does not show us plainly what the final building will be like. However, as Christians we believe that details
about these things are provided in His Guide Book. Many concepts are presented
in the Bible, and, perhaps unfortunately, are subject to interpretation, so
different people see a different end to the building. But the concept is the same in that we
believe there is a Plan behind events that are happening, and they are actually
following this Plan.
And as well as the material world we live
in, we believe that there is as whole other dimension of creation based around
a parallel sphere of existence. This is
the world which contains our thought, emotions and feelings. There is or has been, a parallel design of activities
that are “unseen” which are also addressed in the Master Plan set out in the
Bible. History puts some certainty around that part of the plan which relates
to the visit of Jesus Christ to this world some 2,000 years ago, but through
study many other issues can be understood as well. And what is more amazing is that the same
architect has designed not only the Universe, but a Plan for each individual
life as well!
We would like to invite you to come and talk
with us about the great building of Eternity which is detailed in the
Bible. See the Vision, aspects of the
design, the planning and the construction which are detailed in this Book. Like a large Development Application, these Plans
have been on display for a long time, and everyone is invited to view them and
make comments on them. You might like to
contact us at any time, or a Church in your local Community, to discuss these
issues. We hold our regular Services in
the Church on the second and fourth Sunday each month. Please see details in this Paper for times of Meetings at the
Christian Israelite Church Sanctuary at 196 Campbell Street – we have been in
continuous service there since 1853 helping to meet the needs of people in a
changing and challenging society.
Rodney
Gray – Pastor Christian Israelite Church, 196 Campbell Street, Sydney (www.cichurch.com or visit
cichurch.blogspot.com.au)
