Post-Cornerstone Musings

First of all, here are the pictures.

I really should be going to bed right now, because I'm dead tired and I have to work tomorrow, but I'm going to at least post a few things about Cornerstone first. I think this might have been the best year yet. It's like every year I say "this will be my last", and then I end up going again. And I'm always glad I do. This time I might have started out the first couple of days saying "this will be my last", but I know I ended up telling someone that I very well might be back next year.
I thought about posting a list of the good things and bad things about C-stone, but the good one would be so much longer than the bad. I think really the only bad thing would be that I shared my tent with some ants for the whole week. Everything else was really good. I don't even really mind the sunburn much.

We had awesome weather, cooler than usual. One night I actually just about froze sitting down at main stage watching The Passion. But it was worth it for it to be cooler in the daytime instead of dripping in sweat the whole day.

A big high point of the trip was that I lucked out with my volunteer job. I did transportation, and ended up getting to both pick up Brian McLaren at the airport and drop him off. I was excited just that he was speaking there... didn't imagine that I would actually get to talk with him at length and actually kind of become friends with the guy. And now I respect him even more after meeting him. He seems really wise, totally has this gentle spirit about him, and is really humble as well. I really enjoyed engaging in conversation with him. I was really blessed to have the opportunity to do that. God's cool like that.

Other than that, Cornerstone was pretty typical, I guess. But typical does not equal bad. The Cornerstone experience (and that's really what it is, a total experience) is a great one. Meet cool people, see good bands, hear some good seminars, enjoy camping, etc. One of the best things about C-stone is that it takes you away from some of the typical distractions of life, like the Internet, work, busyness, etc. It forces you to live out community, really. You can either choose to like it and benefit from it, or withdraw and be alone the whole time. I actually did a little bit of both. I think I was needing some alone time, but I didn't pass up the opportunity to get to know some cool new people as well. And leaving Cornerstone is so bittersweet. Sure, you're going back to friends and family, but you feel like you're leaving your Cornerstone family. Cheesy, I guess, but C-stone is really its own world. One that only exists for a week each year.

But now... I get the pleasure of trying to keep up with the lives of Jason, Katie, A.J., Amy, Cory, Sarah and Justin.

Oh yeah, and I got some new shoes.