Ironmen 2011 Adventure Weekend Video Highlights

      I was in the process of writing up the notes from Session 1: Introduction to Wisdom & the Conflicts of Worldviews for the next blog post, when I happened to come across this video that was created by Eric Muir from some of the photos taken by men during the retreat, and shown during the final session on Day 3. If I'm not mistaken, I believe it is set to the song "God of Heaven Come Down" by Casting Crowns. I think I'm in one of the group photos taken during the hike that I went on!

     I should be uploading the post detailing Pastor John's talk during Session 1 later today.

- The Wisdom Seeker

Willingdon Ironmen Fall 2011 Retreat: Day 2

8:27 AM:

     We're having a great breakfast in our apartment as the second day of the retreat opens. Tim is an awesome planner - he took all our food needs into account and came fully loaded. The end result is that he made us all awesome breakfast - scrambled eggs with shitake mushrooms and green onions, accompanied with toast and orange juice. Tim Leung is an awesome cook, so impressive that Johnson smelt the aroma while walking down the corridor and came in to join us :) We'll be going for our individual activities later on in the day. Johnson is heading off for a tree-top ecology tour; Bryant and Bryan are running a testimonial workshop in our suite, helping people develop and write a concise testimony of how and why they came to Christ. I'll be heading out to a 6-hour hike at 10 AM, and then off to lunch and second session with Pastor John. I'll update sometime then. Hope everyone reading is having a blessed day!

- The Wisdom Seeker

At breakfast. Johnson dropped by after smelling the delicious aroma in the corridor :)

Tim and Jason making breakfast - scrambled eggs and bagels!

11:49 PM:

     This has been an exhausting, but highly fulfilling day. It had a great beginning, and a wonderful ending. I would write much more in depth, if I wasn't so tired. The hike was great! There were two hikes offered, one covering 13 kilometers, mostly uphill at a steep gradient and ending at a lake with spectacular mountain views from 3,200 feet. The second was a shorter, milder hike across more level terrain with gentler slopes, to Cheakamus Lake, located in Garibaldi Park [1]. I opted for the second one, because I hadn't brought proper hiking shoes and rain gear with me. At the end of the day, after hearing some of the stories of the men that had gone on the more difficult hike, I was glad that I did!

     I met some great men on the hike, and made quite a number of friends. The conversations were deep and personally meaningful. It was surprising how quickly 6-odd hours seemed to fly past with almost non-stop conversation. In spite of that, I still remembered to stop at interesting locations and take photos, some of which I have posted below. One of the great shots I got was a panoramic photo at Cheakamus Lake, which I stitched together later at home using the most handy and open-source tool, Hugin [1].

By a stream going down to the river (shouldn't use the Foliage setting on my camera)

Alex Gonzales by Cheakamuk Lake

A panoramic shot of an area of Cheakamuk Lake, taken during our lunch stop

Collapsed tree trunks and rocky outcroppings by the trail

The intrepid explorer!

A view of the river from the suspension bridge near the trail

      On the way back, I was surprised to get a call from Johnson (who had opted to go on a tree-top ecological tour), asking what I was doing. It turned out that he was back at Tantalus Lodge, unwinding in one of the heated swimming pool, and asked if I wanted to join him in one of the hot tubs. Never having been in a hot tub before and starting to ache from 6 hours of walking, I was most enthusiastic to savour the pleasures of a soak in hot water, until I suddenly realized that I had no swimming trunks. I mentally kicked myself for not having bought one earlier. In any case, after getting back to the lodge, I did drop by the hot tub and snapped Johnson enjoying himself:

Johnson unwinding in the heated swimming pool

   At around 5, we all headed out to dinner at Milestone's restaurant, and the main event of the day which everyone was looking forward to - Session #2, with Pastor John. The topic was something of high anticipation, as he would be delivering a detailed talk on the subject of Evolution and Christianity. And what an evening it was! From the food, fellowship and conversation, it turned out to be a most memorable evening, with 200+ Ironmen filling the restaurant, which we had booked till midnight. And at the end of dinner, the tables were cleared, Pastor John took a seat on a stool with his notes laid out in front of him, and for the next one-and-a-half hours, proceeded to deliver one of the most incisive and fascinating talks that I have heard on the subject. Needless to say, I scribbled furiously as I tried to take down everything I could. I hope to post a detailed layout of his talk in the coming week. See you in the next post!

Alex, Jason, Ben, Tim and Johnson at dinner

Pastor John prepping during dinner

Pastor John speaking after dinner on Christianity and Evolution

- The Wisdom Seeker

REFERENCES:
-------------------------
[1] Cheakamus Lake
[2] Hugin Panorama Photo Stitcher

Heading Out To Whistler With Willingdon Ironmen Fall 2011 Retreat!

Men Sharpening Men: The Willingdon Ironmen Logo

4:30 PM:

     Well, it's the end of another working week and I'm back home. But I'm heading out again in just a few minutes, to leave for my first trip to Whistler with the Willingdon Ironmen's Fall Retreat! I'm really excited for this evening, as well as the next two days that I'll be spending with the men's fellowship at the Tantalus Lodge in Whistler, with our very own Pastor John Neufeld as the main speaker! I'll try to post here as often as I can about what I've been experiencing and learning everyday, with this year's theme being "Run To Win". Well, time to run through the final checklist and head out the door to meet Tim Leung at church for my carpool ride out there. See you all in the next update, hopefully tonight!

- The Wisdom Seeker

10:30 PM:

     Well, it's been an awesome opening day so far at the Ironmen retreat! There are more than 200 men here of all age ranges here. As I write this, I'm at the table watching my roomates Tim, Alex, Faber, James, Bryan, Bryant and my friend Johnson (visiting from his room) playing the game 'Settlers'. This brings back memories of the Campus for Christ Winter Conferences Johnson and I used to attend while in grad school.

James, Faber, Alex and Tim playing Settlers while I write my blogpost

     The trip here was most memorable, though brief. After work, I headed home, quickly packed my laptop and other minor things and headed out to meet Tim at Willingdon. When I got there, he was by parked in the church parking lot by the bus transporting some of the men to the retreat. I took a photo just before we left:

Tim hopping off the bus just before we all left.

      I had never been on the Sea-To-Sky Highway going to Whistler before. Although it was quite overcast and the light was fading as we headed onto it, there was still enough for me to get breathtaking views along the twists and turns along it during the one-and-a-half drive to Tantalus Lodge. When we arrived, we discovered an Ironmen check-in desk set up in the lobby, and a long line-up of men checking in at the front desk:

The Ironmen Welcome and Sign-in Desk

Ironmen Conference Poster

     Having grabbed a quick dinner and checked in to our rooms, we headed out to the Telus Conference Center for the first session. Following a short praise and worship session that began at 8:30, Pastor John began his opening talk for the weekend to come. And as he laid out the theme, I was thrilled that I had taken this faith step with the Ironmen, for his chosen topic is the fundamental theme of this blog, and the central pursuit of my life over more than a decade - Wisdom, and Handling the Conflicts of Worldviews.

     I will flesh out this post with the points that he made from his first talk tomorrow morning. For now, it's midnight and I'm going to have a shower and hit the bed. I'm looking forward to another exciting day tomorrow!

- The Wisdom Seeker