Thoughts on a Shake Table

As most of you know (or at least SHOULD know by now), I have a penchant for most things Science-related.  I find Science very beautiful in its direct, measured elegance, but also for its occasionally unspoken attachment to faith.

I recently took a weekend sabbatical to Lake Tahoe, just to get away.  The weather was inexplicably tailored to my preferences (one day a full sun, one day of 75% sun with breeze, and one day of light, constant rain).  Part of my intentions of going to Tahoe was to photograph the Fall colors, but I was about 7-14 days too early.

However, I have two friends in the area - Mike, a professional photographer, and Ben, a student at University of Nevada, Reno studying physics (also a photographer).  It's true - if I don't have dancers for friends they're likely either scientists or photographers.  I spent my last few hours the area with Ben touring the UNR campus and there was something of particular interest that caught my attention (aside from the view from the roof of the physics building or the new library that made my heart quite elated) - the construction of the new shake table.

As I gazed out over the massive construction site from our perch in their general Science and Mathematics building, Ben educated me about the shake table - a device used to stress various materials to see if they're able to withstand oscillatory vibrations, similar to those produced by an earthquake or high winds.  The testing parameters often take the materials or item being tested to the point of structural failure.  The testing engineers then do a full analysis of the results, see where the points of failure are, and make recommendations to their clients on how to correct for these points of weakness within the system.

UNR has apparently done enough analyses in the past for various bridges that have collapsed during natural phenomena to warrant building a larger shake table to accomodate increased workload and sample analysis.  I was (almost) in love.  There is little that gives me more excitement, pleasure and sense of fulfillment than putting principles into proper practice to solve a problem for the benefit of more than just a handful of people, and watching the construction of the future stirred my blood.

It was my memory of this moment that came to me again as I sat in my Book of Mormon study group this evening.  We were discussing Chapters 4-7 (links provided) in the Book of Jacob, more particularly about Jacob's run in with Sharem, an Anti-Christ, and his singular assertion regarding unshakeable faith.  As the discussion evolved within the group regarding what nuances and differences between shakeable and unshakeable faith existed, my thoughts quietly twirled around the purpose of the shake table.

Faith, as I've come to understand it from my studies of the Bible, Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price, Doctrine and Covenants, Lectures on Faith and other assorted works, canonized and not, is not unlike a bridge to our Heavenly Father.  In my personal opinion, Faith is the ultimate catalyst, that necessary agent or medium to move something completely from Point A to Point B.  It is at the foundation of everything, including our access to the great and wonderful Atonement of Christ.  We are taught that faith without works is dead and that an increase in faith is often preceded by a trial of our faith - a law of increasing returns, of sorts.

A trial of our faith.... 

Like the counsel given to the Prophet Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail, or Helaman to his sons in Helaman 5:12, or the parable of the wise and foolish men who built their houses on firm or sandy foundations, when the winds rise, the hail pelts, and the shafts in the whirlwinds come upon us, we are promised protection and deliverance if we have established our faith on firm foundations.

It's hard not to think about what those proverbial "storms" and "shafts" are (or will be) in our lives - they're different for everyone but the result is still the same.... a seismic disturbance applied liberally to our core material to reveal not only where our breaking points are, but also how well we've constructed that core material...namely Faith.

Like the engineering shake table, Heavenly Father allows for challenges to come.  Sometimes they're benign and other times they're more "violent".  Regardless, their purpose is the same:  to allow us to prove ourselves obedient, worthy servants; to grow and to learn from our mistakes; to help increase our faith and learn how to exercise spiritual understanding. In other words, to see where our structural imperfections are so we can return to the "spiritual drafting board" and get to work on the necessary improvements to better weather the "learning modules" Heavenly Father needs us to complete to gain those individual experiences that are necessary for us to learn.
 
Science really is beautiful, even if it is quietly brilliant about its connection to faith.