Author: Wick

Yesterday I had the ability to take a quick trip to Michigan with a friend willing to drive/endure the sheer Michigander-ness of it all. It ended up being a great trip, and one I recommend to anyone within a days drive who wants to experience the Great Lakes State.

Yes, there are equally and even MORE great parts of Michigan further upstate, especially around Mackinac, the UP, Sleeping Bear, Traverse, etc.

But for a quick trip that’s never far from Interstate 94 – here’s the prescription:

1. Exit 39 off I-94 – Coloma – This is your first stop. Awesome fruit stand with all the traditional Michigan produce you’d want and plenty of free samples. Drive up the road a bit, and visit Grandpa’s Cider Mill. You can see their whole production line behind a giant glass wall. They’re in action from Sept 9th until around Dec. 15th this year. Grab a hot cinnamon donut, and a frozen gallon for the road.Then head a block down that road and visit the Chocolate Garden. Sure, it’s almost $6 for two truffles. But seriously. Try at least one. Don’t get addicted, or you’ll go broke. But everyone needs to spoil their taste buds like this occasionally.

2. Get back on I-94 and head south-west again. Exit 16 – Bridgman. Your going to Warren Dunes State Park. Odd how the only advertising is a small brown sign provided by the Gubment. Because this hidden experience is pretty stinkin’ cool. Hike Tower Hill (give yourself plenty of time, and take it slow so you don’t die on the way up.) and plan on chillin’ out at the top (over 260 feet above ground). Bring a bottle of water, cause you’ll be ridiculously thirsty up there. Enjoy a breathtaking view of Lake Michigan and the dunes.Then run down, jumping down the steep sand like a skiier on fresh powder, and head towards the Lake. But don’t forget to look down. Petoskey stones (the Michigan State Stone) are hiding, even here in South-Western Michigan beaches.

What’s a Petoskey Stone, you ask? Well, it’s like this grey stone here – only it has rings….oh wait. This IS a Petoskey Stone! (seriously, that happened yesterday, here’s the proof:)
Enjoy the beach. I know, it’s cold…but you get used to it after a few minutes – promise. And if you’re brave, walk up the small stream nearby to the natural source of clay. Cover your skin from head to toe, and walk back downstream toward the Lake. (although apparently this is discouraged now, due to its affect on nature in the area, oops) Wash off, enjoy the beach, and then head over Mikey’s Drive-In restaurant for my wife’s favorite – Olive Burger.

So now that practice is over, notes have been scribbled and friendships between enemies have been formed….slightly. That is, until the puck drops on the NHL season, and many of them must reveal their fangs, talons, and um….duck bills at each other.

34 Men, most from opposing NHL teams, were gathered to compete for spots on the roster for the 2010 USA Olympic Ice Hockey team. The official names will be announced around December 30th, 2009. So they will use several months of NHL performance combined with the results/etc. from this past weeks’ training exercises/time together.

The Men’s Ice Hockey games begin on February 16th, 2010, with the Gold Medal final game being played on February 28, 2010. The 2010 Winter Olympics are in Vancouver, Canada – which is the West Coast, but most of the games still seem to take place during the day (you can see the schedule here, all times Eastern Standard). So there is hope that we may be able to catch some of the games….if TV Programming understands how awesome that would be.

Here are the important games for Team USA: (times Eastern)

Feb. 16th – 3pm – vs. Switzerland

Feb. 18th – 3pm – vs. Norway

Feb. 21st – 7:30pm – vs. Canada – THIS IS A MUST WATCH!!!!

And then, obviously, other games will be announced the 23rd-27th.

Okay, so there you have it. Put it on your calendar. Go to work early/be home for the game. If anything, most of you should be able to watch the game against Canada – that will be some good hockey for sure.

So here’s a debate I didn’t know much about its’ existence. Many thanks to Scott for giving me the heads up that this was an obvious tenet of the Mormon church, and frequently debated as a reason they’re heretical in some eyes.

I checked throughout the Free Methodist book of Discipline, and it seems we’re safely able to discuss this without having to land on one side or the other.

The issue? There are some Christians who believe that God did not create everything that exists “ex nihilo” (out of nothing). They say there are two Hebrew words (title of this post – “formless void” & “womblike deep”) that existed along with God “in the beginning” before all the creation activity went on.

The truth is, none of us was there. So we gotta depend on humanity’s understanding of cosmic pre-life forces, etc, etc. But in any case, I do appreciate the movement of emphasis from whether or not God created “being” (stuff, tangible-ness, metaphysical realm, etc.), to God creating “LIFE” in the midst of no life.

“Without the mythological tohu wa-bohu and the tehom, the horizon of the narratives is dramatically and disproportionately shifted away from that of beauty, goodness, and life and over to that of power and of being. They are turned into explanations of why the world is THERE, instead of proclamations that what IS there is beautiful and GOOD. The stories are not about being – being is there, given, mute, and barren – but about bringing being to life.” – Caputo

Although I would say this still Christian viewpoint differs from Mormonism in a couple ways. One, Mormonism believes that all of these things existed even in some sort of “living” state in Heaven BEFORE they were brought into physical being. Two, Mormonism stretches the creation to somehow include God creating several different worlds in which Christ played a role in.

I’m not signing up as a “Caputo-ite” anytime soon. But I do like a lot of what he says, and think there’s a lot of benefit to appreciating God as less of an omnipotent ace up our sleeve for the end times (or even now); and more of an infinitely unconditional “YES/GOOD” proclaiming, Hope indwelling, impossible new life calling/transforming, and humble lover of where “is” has become “lives”.