Structural integrity

Tree in Croydon Town Park

I don’t have an engineering background. If I did I might be able to tell you how to design and build something that juts out at a right angle from a vertical that it is attached to – without any other support. I might be able to tell you what materials to use, how much strength is required, and the quantity of material to cope with supporting the weight etc. I’m sure there’s so much more. Once we built our vertical structure with the piece jutting out that would be job done – right! We’d never have to factor in the length of the protruding piece, and it’s weight, increasing.

This photo shows an example of just this sort of structure though. It’s growing all the time and its structural integrity has to change accordingly to maintain it. That’s what a tree does with multiple protruding branches. The branches stick out at all sorts of angles and often span several metres. We usually pay no attention to that though – unless a branch or even a whole tree falls down.

Next time you see a tree with its branches sticking out have a think about how it was designed, the stresses involved in supporting the weight of a branch with its leaves, everything involved. Can you really look at it and not see creative design? I can’t.

The Bible says, “Then God said, ‘Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so.” (Genesis 1:11, NIV)

It also says a lot more than that and it’s well worth a read!