An Open Letter to my Family at Cornerstone 2005
For so many reasons beyond my control, this is the first year in eighteen years that I will be unable to get to the festival. I'm still dealing with the reality of that statement. Yes, that IS longer than the majority of the festival-ites have been alive. I've said it out loud (at least through my fingertips) and am slowly coming to grips with it. It's hard, unbelievably hard, to realize I can't get to the one place on the planet that is my yearly sabbatical and source of sanity. I've been praying for a miracle but God seemingly has other things for me to learn this year.
I've volunteered for the fest (I don't think anyone can ever emphasize how important volunteers really are to the fest) in one way or another every year, in every way imaginable. From trash pickup, to manning vendor and artist booths, to security in the old metal barns at Greyslake (Hi Ed), to (most recently) working with some absolutely amazing (Hi Scott) family as we worked to bring some outstanding web coverage to others in situations just like mine this year. Yes, the fest is a true celebration of God's family at it's best in diversity.
Sorry, got choked up for a minute. It's just tough to realize that I'm going to miss some of the best friends I've made and grown close to over the years. Many of you are in Bushnell, Illinois right now, with thousands more pouring in on Wednesday and through the weekend. From everything I've seen, Wednesday is supposed to be close to 100 degrees. That kind of heat helps emanate nothing but the best of fragrances from the fest grounds itself!
God's done some amazing things over the years at the fest. The fact that it even comes together every year alone is a miracle of God, His grace, and His mercy. I've seen God move major storms completely out of the path of Bushnell. I've watched them on the weather radar, literally turning completely away from the grounds. I've known that the storms were moving away because of the prayers of dedicated family in the back of the Fest trailer (helped along by the wary campers cowering in their tents). We've lived through terrifying storms and micro bursts that have brought the Exhibition Tent crashing down - with no injuries except to some merchandise and product. We've lived through downpours and droughts, dust bowls and deluges, mud angels and mud slides, power failures and satellite breakdowns.
But the weather isn't what it's all about. The fest has always been about family. The amazing family at JPUSA (yet another Island of Misfit Toys like my beloved church family) manages to put this all together and never lose sight of the real reason for the fest. Henry, John H., JJT, sheesh, there isn't enough space in a dictionary to list all the people that make this amazing city rise up and run every year. Suffice it to say God knows and loves each one of them and has a special place of rest for them all when we finally leave the Darkwoods and go home.
I know I'm rambling so maybe I'll just add to this here on the blog over the next few days. I just can't help but think of the amazing things that the fest has given us over the years. From a few of us watching young artists like P.O.D. go from blowing the flaps off the New Band Tent to blowing us all away from Main Stage in only a few, short, years. New Artists, Fringe Artists, "Maturing" Artists (I really am going to miss the Dogs this year). Surprising discoveries in music (Fourth Estate) and writing (Donald Miller) that have been "cornerstones" in my life, growth, and friendships for a number of years now.
Late night walks around the grounds past the myriad of campsites linger in my mind to this day. New family getting to know each other, old family members getting reacquainted once again. Walking by the amazing Prayer Tent where I've seen God become so real to people for the first time, or the rediscovery of the reality of God in many lives.
But that brings me back to the beginning, and the prayers. People talk to God at the fest. Whether it be a simple "help, I'm lost" or an all out prayer for protection while scrambling for their van to run away to Macomb (right, JJT?), people talk to God. I think that is one of the many reasons that God keeps the fest going from year to year. Mud, dust, heat, drought, exhaustion, noise, and no sleep. These are all integral components of each and every fest. But I think that God brings His family together every year, from all parts of the globe, just to remind us what waits for us one day. And to remind us to keep talking to, and loving each other, and Him.
Even though I can't be there this year, I know I can continue to pray for everyone that is. And that alone will remind me the distance I may be feeling, being apart from my festival family, is only in mileage, not in the matters of the heart.
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