Hammering Tent Pegs
When camping with my parents, my father would always encourage us to drive the tent pegs deep. He knew the stability of the tent depended on it being firmly anchored to the ground. We survived thunderstorms and fierce winds in that tent, staying warm and dry. The deeper the stake was driven into the dirt, the more secure our tent was. We pitched our tent in sand, rich earth and even rocky soil.
But what if the ground underneath is a cement parking lot?
Time to get inventive.
The Well-Anchored Tent
How would you anchor a tent on pavement, so it can resist the fiercest windstorm? Just ask the people who organize the North Carolina State Fair.
Every year city buses start ferrying people from different locations to the state fairgrounds. Parking at the fair is a nightmare, so many of us enjoy taking the bus. The organizers always set up a white tent with a table inside to sell people fair and bus tickets
But one year, we arrived at the temporary bus kiosk during a strong windstorm.
Interestingly, the white tent didn’t budge. So I was curious enough to take a closer look.
There was a strip of grass behind with large stakes pounded into the ground, but to anchor the front of the tent, the organizers did something a little unusual. Whoever solved this problem didn’t want the tent to ever budge, no matter what the weather.
An Ingenious Solution
The two front corners of the tent resting on the pavement were each anchored by chains to three 5-gallon buckets filled with hardened cement. On one side stood a generator to provide extra light for fairgoers after dark.
I did some google searches. A 5-gallon bucket of water weighs 42.7 pounds (19.36 kg), but a 5-gallon bucket of paint weighs between 40 and 60 lbs (18.14 – 27.21 kg), depending on the paint’s density.
But the same bucket filled with hardened concrete weighs 100 lbs (45.35 kg).
So 600 pounds “anchored” the State Fair tent to the parking lot. That’s 272 kilograms. It would have taken a tornado to knock over that tent.
My dad would have been pleased.
We dwell in Earthly Tents
The Scripture compares our bodies to earthly tents; because they are temporary dwellings. Our bodies aren’t meant to last forever.
For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 Here indeed we groan, and long to put on our heavenly dwelling. (2 Corinthians 5:1-2 RSV)
We are fragile and easily blown over by life’s storms, unless we are securely anchored to something much stronger than ourselves.
Fortunately, Christians can choose to have Almighty God as their anchor when things gets rough.
So what do you rely on when life suddenly turns nasty or traumatic?
Some turn to alcohol or drugs. When I was younger, I would escape into TV and movies, hiding from my problems.
But neither is a good anchor. Because it won’t help you survive the storm.
Our Divine Anchor
I flew to Michigan when my brother Chris attempted suicide 10 years ago. He ended up in a ICU burn center in Detroit and died 5 days later. I’d walked with Jesus many years, but on that first night, I flicked on the TV and tried to escape from my pain.
Then I shook myself awake, flipped off the TV and aggressively grabbed hold of the only Anchor who could help me.
I will be eternally grateful that I made that choice.
Resources:
The Holy Spirit met me in some amazing ways during those 5 days visiting Chris in the Intensive Care Burn Center. For the whole story, click on Pit Dweller – Part 1.
