Cornerstone fun

One of the best parts about Cornerstone is the people. Talk about diversity. There are babies and older people (though I'd guess not many beyond 65 or so). There are people with short hair, men and women with long hair, men with no hair, people with tatoos and chains and piercings everywhere. Christina's friend Robin, age 13, had new piercings this year--an eyebrow piercing and a belly button piercing. Christina wants her cartilage in her ear pierced. I am not too keen on having this done, not because I really object to this, but each time we've gone to get her ears pierced (she only has one hole in each ear, but we had to have it redone because the holes closed up the first time), she's gotten nervous and fidgety and even bordering hysteria. So, I'm not sure about anohter piercing for her.

Mark's mohawk is getting really long, so even though he and Christina glued it back up, it was drooping a bit after a couple of days in the humidity. Mark went for a swim in the lake and opted to have the hair hanging down as usual.

Mark and my brother's 7-y-old, Ethan, bonded pretty well. They spent a lot of time in Roger's car playing video games. Mark was named Ethan's favorite cousin briefly, until Ethan asked Mark who his favorite cousin was. WHen Mark replied, "I don't have one" I think maybe Ethan decided he didn't either. I know he and Richard, my sister's son about the same age, really enjoy each other when they are together, and Ethan and Daniel have had fun together too (my older sister's youngest son.) It would be really fun to have all the cousins together at Cornerstone. This would be quite the age span, as my brother and his wife are expecting their 3rd child in February. So, we'd have cousins from age 5 months to age 25 or so.

You can read Tim's blog to get his take on the festival. He enjoys seminars, and this year, movies and movie shorts, perhaps even more than the music. I'm happy to spend time with family, cook, clean and read, as I mentioned before. And walk around seeing all the sights and smells that C-Stone has to offer. And, as I attend sessions where people discuss faith issues, I'm amazed at the variety of opinions. You can see it on t-shirts too, and bumper stickers. I saw Bush-Cheney '04 stickers as well as John Kerry. One topic I think most agree on is abortion--though I'm sure there is disagreement about how to express feelings on the topic. Some sported "Abortion is Mean" or "Abortion is Homicide" on t-shirts or bumper stickers, while others prefer to change hearts and minds with a less direct approach. Of course, many people of no faith come to the event, and some find Jesus for the first time there. Baptisms are held in the lake every year, and it is exciting to see this public expression of new, or sometimes not-so-new faith.

Cornerstone has opened my mind to new opinions--I can easily live in my comfortable box in my suburban church and not think that others may find truth in the Bible in a way that challenges how I think and live. It's good to be stretched and grow and learn.

But it's comforting to know that, even though we disagree, we all serve the same God who never changes and read from the Word that stays the same, but is living and active, and relevant for today. Whether you're an urban head-banging long-haired type or a conservative suburban housewife. God is big enough for us all. May we be big enough to embrace each other and seek His truth.

Till next time,

Suzi