Memories:: Utah

I noticed a friends Facebook status earlier this evening; "Just got back from Utah...EPIC" making me remember some of the time I've spent living in and exploring the Utah desert. For some reason, I absolutely love spending time in America's desert landscapes and could easily see myself living there one day. Anyhow, thanks for the status update Mike, it definitely made me remember well! Enjoy this photo from Moab.

God is Green

Of all the stereotypes that have formed around what it means to be an environmentalist, the one stereotype that I would like to see most closely related with environmental consciousness would be “Christian.” And while the granola-eating, organic, tree-hugging activists with questionable hygiene and bad styles living out on the fringes of society should be applauded for their care of creation, my hope is that one day it is Christians who are most known for their environmental concern.

In the Christian church we often hear about Jesus’ Great Commission to go out into the world preaching the Gospel, baptizing people, and teaching them to obey Scripture. At the very beginning of the Bible, the book that we claim to obey and organize our lives around, comes the First Commission where Creator God commands that we care for and tend the earth. Interestingly, we Christians have been up in arms for years over the creation/evolution debate dumping time, energy, and resources into defending our claim for a Creator God while largely ignoring to care for His creation like He asked. Further, many bridges could be built and many walls broken down when we recognize that, though there is disagreement on the origins of our blue planet, there is wide scale agreement that we must care for it.

Scripture is clear that creation was made for God (Col. 1), by God (Genesis 1-2), and still belongs to God (Psalm 24). Additionally, Romans 1 tells us that God’s glory is revealed to Christian and non-Christian alike through creation, which includes the beauty of Mt. Baker at first light, the quiet gurgling of Clayburn Creek in the summer, and the prominent Cheam range as you drive east on Highway 1. One prominent dead theologian said it this way, “God writes the Gospel, not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars.” Clearly, Christians should be known for their care of creation.

Thankfully, Christians around the world are beginning to respond to Creator God’s call to tend and care for a planet under siege to pollution, depleting resources, unsustainable development, and gross imbalances of food and water supplies. Every personal, community, and corporate action towards a greener lifestyle does count and is significant no matter how small the action may appear. This call towards an increasingly “green” lifestyle does not, however, come without cost. It will cost your time. It will cost your comfort. It will cost your convenience. It will cost your conscious. It might even cost you some green. The question being, is it worth it?

I think it is.

The Christian church must respond to this call. Environmental concern in not just a popular fad like tie-dye t-shirts or blogging, it is a biblical mandate that can not be ignored. For Christians, we begin by humbly repenting for our part in creation degradation and then actively pursue how to reduce harm, reduce waste, and begin to restore what has been lost. This may mean that churches don’t supply Styrofoam cups for the horrible church coffee that is consumed every Sunday morning or that car pooling and energy efficient structures and methods are in place. Maybe it means that the best parking spots are reserved for hybrid vehicles, that church grounds have community gardens, or that bike locks, lockers, and showers are provided to encourage people to bike, blade, run, or skateboard to church. Creative solutions to creation care will be as unique to the church and individual as anything else. Not everyone or every church can do everything, but everyone doing something will add up. The God we serve is green, why shouldn’t we be also?

We Are Mountain People

Mountains are fantastic examples of the power and mystery of nature, and the routes we climb on them are expressions of all that is best in the human spirit. Mountains and routes are only animated by our interaction with them, however, and it is the people we share the mountains with - the relationships we have with them - that are ultimately the most important.
- Michael Kennedy from the forward to Extreme Alpinism by Mark Twight

Thank-you my friends.

Marketing Ideas: How do ideas spread?

Following is a list of questions that I pulled out of a marketing book that I read some years ago. The Anatomy of Buzz by Emanuel Rosen looks at how information spreads best and quickest. Here are a few thoughts to work through before reading the questions.

Identifying Network Hubs
"Whether you spread an idea, a product, or a service, you always have a choice. You can broadcast or you can connect. Broadcasting involves massive mailings or buying media time and packaging your message so that it can be transmitted simultaneously to all nodes in the network. Connecting involves starting a dialogue with certain individuals in the network that you are trying to influence." -Emanuel Rosen

How do we identify these certain people?
1. Let network hubs identify themselves. These are people who come to us for something they want more then anything else: information. Network hubs feed on information.
2. Identify Categories of Network Hubs. The way to look for a category is to look for people who, by virtue of their position, have a higher then average number of ties with people in the networks you are trying to reach.
3. Spotting Network Hubs in the Field. It's easy to find these hubs when you are apart of a community. In fact, when you are apart of a community don’t really have to search.

Seeding Ideas
Successful seeding is an active process. It goes beyond the Field of Dreams cliché "If you build it, they will come." Rather than waiting passively for people to come to you, you go out and plant seeds all around the forest.

1. Look Beyond the Usual Suspects. Think broadly. Who are the people outside of our normal networks that could be 'seeded' with new ideas about young adults?
2. Put Information/Product In Their Hands. What piece of young adult product can we put in people's hand that will 'germinate itself' into other people's hands?
3. Listen For Silence. Successful seeding requires that we pay attention to dead networks and go further in order to reach them.
4. What seeding efforts are we doing right now? What should we be doing in the near future?

Questions to Ask Your Teams
1. From who do our newcomers typically learn about youth/young adults?

2. What do people say when they recommend youth/young adults?

3. How fast does information about youth/young adults spread compared with other churches/young adults groups/organizations?

4. Who are our network hubs? Are there any mega-hubs? Which are social hubs and which are expert hubs? Are there any categories of people who might become network hubs for youth/young adults?

5. Where does information about young adults hit a roadblock? Do our hub people know what the heck is happening?

6. Which are the most important sources of information that our youth/young adults rely on to know who we are/what we are about?

7. What other kinds of information spread through the same networks?

8. Who are our inactive markets that our youth/young adults are not reaching? Are we listening for silence where we are not known?

9. Do we offer a quality event, program, and community?

10. Do we underpromise and overdeliver?

11. Does youth/young adults enhance the lives of the people come?

12. Contagious products and ideas draw attention to themselves; how well does youth/young adults draw attention to itself?

13. Do we offer anything new? Buzz reflects excitement and excitement does not build around old ideas and predictable approaches.

14. Are we operating in a spirit of truth, honesty, and directness?

15. What are we willing to do to accelerate the contagiousness and word-of-mouth spread about youth/young adults?

16. What do students/young adults tell their friends about us? About other churches/youth groups/young adults?

17. What is the general church culture saying about young adult and youth ministry right now?

18. How receptive and responsive are we to our student and young adult concerns, comments, suggestions? How easy is it for people to talk to us?

19. Can we limit access to youth/young adults to create buzz? Scarcity build interest.

20. What sneak previews do we want to give to grade 12's for young adults and grade 8's to youth?

21. What can we do that will surprise people?

22. How outrageous can we be?

23. Who and how can we take people 'behind the scenes'?

24. What is the story and drama that we need to keep telling about our communities?

25. What events can we stage to get people talking about youth/young adults?

26. What kind of "pass it on" promotional material and mechanisms do we have?

27. How visible is youth/young adults to youth and young adults?

28. Are our youth talking to each other? The more that they interact, the more involved they will become with youth/young adults and the more likely they will tell other people. Can we find ways to help them talk to each other, socialize, and exchange comments?

29. Is there anything that we can do that makes youth/young adults more useful as more people use it? Example: email is more useful when more people use it; myspace is more useful when more people use myspace. People will spread the word more readily if they perceive some sort of personal benefit.

30. Is there anyway that we can offer any type of 'referrals reward program'?

31. Can our ads be clever enough to create buzz on their own?

32. How well can our youth/young adults articulate who we are and what we are about?

33. Are we supplying our networks with a constant flow of innovations that people can actually talk about?

34. Are we keeping people involved? If people join us but never think about it again, we can't expect them to talk about it too much. However, if we involve them, engage them, make it interesting for them, they will talk. Involvement translates to action, which in turn translates to buzz.

Anti-Bush Rally: George Bush in Saskatoon

Yesterday, while catching a city bus from the Saskatoon ‘international” airport to downtown, I happened upon a large, loud, and angry crowd corralled by police and barricades. This crowd, made up of mostly young scenester kids, goth kids, and a few old school revolutionaries, where there in protest of George W. Bush’s speaking engagement here in Saskatoon. This crowd had all the elements of a revolution: social misfits, music of the people, accusations, and the alternative media to tell the story of David-vs-Goliath injustices that “the people of the world face.” The speakers/presenters/agitators played on the naivety and emotion of the teenaged crowd whose chants of “shame on you” were as monotonous as the speakers themselves. Additionally, this crowd was ripe with marijuana activists that would have made Tim Felger proud to be Canadian.

The other crowd, the hundreds of suit-and-tie people with their long wool jackets and trendy scarves, slowly filed into the building while smirking at the young protesters from the safety of their police line bunker. These – the obviously affluent or lucky – had tickets to see one of our times’ most controversial leaders live and in-person. This crowd seemed unfazed by the bullhorns and guilt-trips and, as one suit I interviewed stated, “We couldn’t give a sh!t about what some 18 year-old with fingergloves and a bullhorn cares about.” As ticket holders looked down their noses at protestors, it became glaringly evident that the seeds of this revolution will not be won or barely even advanced on the street.

Anyhow, the strangest thing was the protestors calling for justice. They – alleging Bush to be a war criminal – were demanding justice for his alleged crimes. Whether Bush should be tried for war crimes or not is a different story, but what was interesting here was watching drug dealer’s (at least the ones who offered to me) chant that justice be held for criminals. It reminded me of a story one man told about having a plank in an eye. It seems that hypocrites can be found in many places…

POST-SCRIPT
A funny moment that emerged out of the event came when a man in his late-50’s placed a twenty-foot pole down the back of his jacket with a small sign on the top. The sign read, “Terrorist. Torturer. Moron.” As this man was walking around with a twenty foot sign coming out of the back of his jacket, he walked under a tree and became tangled in the branches. With sign man stuck in the tree I fumbled with my phone to get a picture before he escaped. Moron? At very least, it was ironic.

Who is my neighbor anyways?

Today I found myself at a conference hosted by the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada which is a Canadian lobby group that petitions politicians for things like the conservative definition of marriage, human trafficking, the sanctity of all human life, and other moral hot buttons. The speakers did a fantastic job at presenting - through stats, numbers, and case studies - the cultural realities facing Canadians today and are doing an amazing work on the Hill.

However, what I wanted to talk about is the audiences response to a presenters question, "Who is your neighbor?" The more and longer I listened to peoples responses, the more and more I became agitated and, eventually, flat out angry. People had some real compelling and biblical arguments to support their claim and justification as to why they had no need to know their actual neighbor. Responses like, my real neighbors are my co-workers, the people at my gym, and that weird high school buddy who keeps calling for decades and decades. Though these people are people who need Jesus and who should see the Gospel at work in our lives, conference attenders kept leaning on the Good Samaritan crutch to tell us why they didn't know their actual next door neighbor. Too busy. Long tiring commutes. Language barriers. Religious and political differences. A bad smell. Excuses.

I don't think that Jesus meant for us to forsake our actual neighbors nor does he give us excuse to do so. He does, however, expand our context of who our neighbors are and calls us to a life of self-sacrifice for God's glory and our neighbors good. As I sat there listening to the feel good excuses, I thought of the many people in my building of widely diverse backgrounds, worldviews, language groups, and experience who God has brought into the proximity of my life simply because we are neighbors. I thank Jesus for the people I live around and pray for them regularly realizing that many of the excuses offered today can play havoc on my responsibility to be a good neighbor. However, when we take the responsibility to be a good neighbor seriously, I guarantee that the excuses will be overcome.

Fraser Valley Bouldering: Hope

The bouldering in Hope, BC is, and continues to be one of my absolute favourite fall bouldering spots. With the diversity of areas and stone, there is sure to be something to suite even the most critical of boulders. Of all the areas, the Hunter Creek bouldering is where I find myself most often. Flat sandy landings in an open forest cluttered with fine grain granite boulders keeps me scrubbing and climbing nearly all year long. The boulders themselves are covered in holds and range from low-ball traverses to high-ball fright fests that’ll make you wish you’d spent a little more time learning how to pull on classic Squamish-like slopers. Early developers Marco and Nate along with a handful of others took care to pick many of the plum lines like the conditions-dependant Goldfinger (V10) and the stunning Tube Socket (V9).

Hard bouldering is not all that New Hunter has to offer though. There are clean and classic circuits for everyone from beginner to rockstar to enjoy in a peaceful quiet setting away from the circus that is Squamish. There are also many many many unclimbed or rarely climbed lines that need to see more ascents and – if FA’s are your game – bring your cleaning tools! Just don’t be too eager to spray about your new super-burly-vee-hard-whatever as the problem may have been climbed just last year before mossing over again through the winter. Either way, the bouldering at Hunter is amazing!

Mountain Project lists a fraction of the problems at Hunter Creek but serves as a starting point for anyone looking to explore. Also, Marco Lefebvre recently published a short spot check with tons of info in Squamish Climbing Magazine, check out his work here. Here are a few stand-outs as you wander through the forest:

V0 - The Frayed Edge of Sanity is a tallish and fun slab wandering up the Goldfinger boulder just left of the slickery and overhung Ecocide Arete (V10).

V1 – The Hoover Traverse put up by you-know-who is Hunter Creek’s Any Rock Will Do but much better! Don’t miss this fun warm-up climb.

V1/2 – Pale Face which is the tall-but-not-too-tall blank face that you are sure to walk past. Reach dependant for the grade, this classic climb is a great introduction to highball bouldering with a flat landing and mellow topout.

V2 – Precious Metals is one of the first lines you will see walking into the forest. Start with two blocky holds at about 7 feet on the Goldfinger boulder and boulder strait up and over or, for some extra value, hit the lip and continue up and left to the peak. Classic!

V3 – Split Tip is a low slappy arête and maybe high in the grade. Good fun.

V4 – Grendal’s Mother a scary highball put up by Andrew Itkonen a number of years ago. This problem sees few repeats with many backing off at their mental crux!

V4 – Miniblade, also known as The Mark of Zorro, was named for its eerie similarity to the Old Hope testpiece Blade of Lightning (V10). Miniblade is a classic trailside slopper problem with a troubled past.

V5 – Slight of Hand is found close to the creek and moves off perfect (and flexy) holds to a tricky mantle. Great movement!

V7 – Autobot is a recent addition to the forest with both Marco and Ryan projecting and then climbing within days of each other. Very good problem!

V9 – Tube Socket is a Nate Woods classic which should be tried by those capable. A stand-up start to the problem in the V5/6 range is a fantastic problem in its own right.

V10 – Goldfinger, without its original and critical hold, is looking for a repeat with a new sequence. Any takers?

Directions and Beta to Hunter Creek:
Take Hwy. 1 East to Hunter Creek Exit.
As you come off the highway, turn right and then, instead of turning left to the Hunter Creek rest area, turn right and follow the service road for about 0.7kms.

Turn left onto a gravel forest service road called Lorenzetta/Hunter Creek FSR. and drive up the short hill to an obvious pull out on the right. Park here. WARNING: Vehicles with low clearance should be cautious.

From your parking spot, head up the road on foot for about 1 minute before spotting a faint trail to your left. There is a small cluster of fun boulders here. Keep following the trail to find more boulders all the way towards the talus field.

Special Notes:
1. DO NOT cross any fences and DO NOT go down to the creek as it is private land. The crazy landowner across the fence is likely to shoot and eat you.
2. Bears, cougars, and horses are known to be in the area.
3. If you (re)scrub something out there, let others know so that it gets some traffic and stays clean.
4. Do your part to make the area a better area for everyone.
5. Spring and summer, watch for stinging nettles. If you run into any, don't touch it!
6. If you’d like a tour of the area, feel free to ask!