Faithfully yours - Look beneath the surface

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Published on Monday, July 23, 2018

By Neil Strohschein

Neepawa Banner & Press

In 1968, the Husky Oil Company decided to build a tourist attraction in downtown Calgary, Alta. They called it the Husky Tower and it was, at the time it was built, the tallest structure in the city. It cost a mere $3.5 million to build (which in 1968, was a lot of money).

I got my first glimpse of the tower just after the centre column was built. When the observation deck and revolving restaurant were completed several months later, drivers approaching the city could see the tower long before the city itself came into view.

Over the years, the tower has gone through several renovations and upgrades; including a glass floor in the observation deck that allows you to look straight down to street level, 191 meters below (not recommended for those with a fear of heights).

Despite its height, the tower is remarkably stable. It’s earthquake proof (not much of a worry in Calgary) and can withstand winds of up to 160 kilometers per hour. On a windy day it can (and will) sway up to 7.5 inches, enough for people at the top to feel it moving. There is, at least as far as the engineers who designed it are concerned, no danger that it will fall over.

What makes the tower so stable? I asked that question myself many years ago; and a long-time Calgary resident gave me this answer. “You have to look beneath the surface,” he said, “Underground—at the tower’s foundation.”

Fortunately, pictures exist to help us do that. The part of the tower one sees rests on a foundation that is at least twice as wide as its top, and extends deep beneath street level. The amount of concrete in the base, I was told, weighs more than the central column and the steel pod on top of it. Everything rests on pilings that reach even further beneath the surface. The size and weight of its foundation is more than enough to keep the tower standing tall for years to come.

In my lifetime, I have met many people who were just like the Calgary Tower. They faced challenges unlike anything I have ever known. Some have lost children in traffic accidents or acts of violence. Some have lost a partner to cancer and have been left to raise small children on their own. Some have watched helplessly as their home or business was destroyed by fire or severely damaged in a flood. Some have lived through many years of shock and trauma after seeing their homes bombed into oblivion and their children killed while fighting in a war.

What makes them so stable? What is the source of their peace, joy, hope and optimism? For that, we must look beneath the surface. We must examine the foundation upon which their lives are built. In my experience at least, those with the strongest sense of peace, joy, hope and optimism have had one thing in common—a deeply rooted and firmly grounded faith in Jesus Christ.

Of him, the Bible says that he was tested in every way, just as we are, yet was without sin. From the moment of his conception to the moment of his death, Jesus experienced every test, trial and temptation that you and I will experience in life. Nothing that we experience will ever take him by surprise or catch him off guard. He will walk through everything with us, giving us hope and the help we need to survive and thrive, no matter what may come our way.