In Love

“Sometimes we don’t really notice

just how good it can get…”

-Rob Thomas

“Taste and see

that the Lord is good.”

-Psalm 34:8

Those who have tasted have seen.

However, I mean really tasted, not just taken a lick and forgotten what it tasted like. (James 1:22-35)

And that is so okay.

Give yourself some of His grace; because like Rob Thomas sings in Someday, sometimes we simply “don’t really notice just how good it can get.”

Now, bear with me, but I am going to go back to this whole sustainability bit.
Like I mentioned in my previous entry, we first have to be exposed to the truth.

Then, and only then, can we willingly respond with joy.

We are exposed, and we respond.

Back to sustainability…

So, let’s play pretend for a little. Let’s say you are in love with the concept, the effects, and the beauty of all that sustainability offers. You have seen how it changes the world. You have seen how you can continually and faithfully put your trust in all of its ways.

So, because you’re so crazy about it- of course you have your own, personal water bottle.

I mean, come on,

    anyone who says they are really in love with what sustainability really is,  

    knows how big of an effect that simple choice makes on the very earth we were born into.

    Anyone who says they are really in love with what sustainability really is,

    has tasted how good it feels to drink from their own water bottle because they have seen this...

        

 

 

Seriously, everyone who really wants to call themselves a ”sustainable person,” simply wouldn’t want to get even a little sip of what it tastes like to drink water from a plastic bottle ever again!

Yes, this tasting and seeing has gone a little off track. But I think what has thrown us completely off the map is the way in which we respond.

Back to sustainability…

So you’re walking into your first class of the year, and you couldn’t be more fired up about how this concept has changed your life. As you carry your brand spankin’ new, reusable water bottle (complete with a built-in filter for even better taste) you spot someone sitting alone. But, it’s not the fact that they are sitting alone that attracts your attention. It’s the Dasani plastic water bottle that catches your eye and makes you shutter.

But, here’s the question. If he/she-

Pardon, this mystery person needs a name; let’s go with Jimmy

If Jimmy is truly in love with sustainability,

and has fallen in love by being captivated by the taste I had mentioned before,

what is his response?

Because Jimmy has tasted the taste that has changed his lifestyle forever,

he can’t help it.

Whenever he sees a plastic water-bottle, his heart breaks.

That’s love.

Back to the question…

How does he respond?

If all these things are true, would he,

in all of this overflowing love,

run up to John (Yes, he has a name now too) and chuck his new water bottle at his face!?

Or, what about sitting down next to John,

in the midst of all of this beautiful awakening,

and completely dominate the entire conversation by rattling off statistic after statistic, only to prove why John’s sustainability-less lifestyle is utterly wrong, and he is entirely right.

Y’all are smart. I don’t have to write why the awakening and the action just don’t connect.

Fear and love. Antithesis.

But I do want to say something else.

Back to Rob Thomas.

He finishes the chorus by following up with the line…

“Maybe we should start all over,

start all over again”

-Rob Thomas

Is this the trick? Starting all over?

Going back to the love that changed us in the first place?

Because, y’all, it just doesn’t make sense.

There is something that does make sense to us humans...

An overflow of love, especially a love that calls you to love, does not produce fear as a result.

Maybe we shouldn’t try to “transform” others’ minds.

But, instead, first be transformed by the renewing of your mind. –Romans 12:2

Maybe we should go back to the love that changed us: God alone.

Maybe we shouldn’t run and dominate and rattle.

But, instead, first be still and know that He is God.  -Proverbs 

Because, those who have truly tasted and seen that He is good,

know He is the one who changed us, transformed us.

So, it only makes sense to leave everything up to Him.

Not just other water bottles,

but our water bottle,

too.

Maybe we need to give others that same grain of His grace you may have given yourself at the start of this post.

Why?

Back to Rob Thomas.

“Sometimes (others) don’t really notice,

Just how good it can get.”

And, that is so okay.

In fact, it’s more than okay.

It’s real.

Cassie, that’s cool in all, but I don’t even know this God. Let alone like Rob Thomas…

Well, then I think Michael Buble might be able to shed some light on your situation.

Although he whimsically sings “I just haven’t met you yet,” he speaks the truth.

Singing about the love of his life, he optimistically sings in hope.

I would simply suggest…

Check out Michael, capitalize the “Y” in “you,”

and simply…

Sing in hope.

And, if you’re looking for the “next step” that I mentioned in yesterday’s post,

pay close attention to the one-word command repeatedly

given in the background of last 21 seconds. J

Surprised by the Spirit: Sustainability?

Okay…

So I’m back, and I believe that it is perfect timing… but I don’t want you to believe that.

I want to show you.

In just this past week I have been led by the Holy Spirit, and I have now seen the consequences.

“Consequences, Cassie? That’s horrible… shouldn’t you be overwhelmed by the honor of receiving direction from the breath of God himself?”

Oh: trust me, I believe I am… but I don’t want you to believe that.

I want to show you.

Yes, living inside and by the freedom of the Holy Spirit is quite possibly, no- definitely, the most powerful and beautiful experience I have yet to encounter in my life.

BUT, it just might be the most, and I will use the same word I used before, overwhelming experience in my life. And, these same consequences I was speaking of are part of the overwhelming experience that has brought me right back to this computer keyboard.

“For God did not give you a Spirit of timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7

This verse took on a whole new realm of understanding, for me, when I, led by the Spirit’s characteristic of power, responded to a quite powerful message on the foundation, the bigness and the beauty of Sustainability in my 1:00 class in Sid Richardson Lecture Hall 1, just this past Wednesday.

“Cool, Cassie, I have no idea what Sustainability is…”

Oh: trust me, neither did I. But now, I believe that Sustainability is another beautiful way to live out our Christianity. But, I don’t want you to believe that.

I want to show you.

So, back to these consequences. I believe I just told you that I responded to this Sustainability message that I littered with fluffy adjectives that you chose to trust me with, or just read over. Well, how did I respond, you ask? I said I responded with power… specifically, the Spirit’s power.

I use possession there, because that power was definitely not mine… and now I have these consequences I keep talking about.

This powerful response, for me, was following up with the speaker, David Rodriguez, with an elaborate overflow of excitement in the form of an e-mail.

”Cassie, you call that powerful? I could write an e-mail in my sleep…”

Yeah yeah, I know. But, if you knew me, you would know that this is bold. This is power. And, this isn’t something I do every day, respond to this powerful Spirit.

Not to mention, this request from the Spirit didn’t really demand too much out of me. It was pretty easy request.

Let me show you…

Clue/confession 1: I had been fired up about this whole Sustainability thing for a while now.

Clue/confession 2: I knew, by a couple glaring hints, that this speaker and I had the biggest possible thing in common: we both loved the Lord.

Clue/confession 3: I was given the opportunity to follow-up with this man simply by

                                                A: his welcoming and “easy to approach” vibe

                                                & B: his straight up insistence that we contact him with absolutely any
                                                        question on sustainability we have.

So, alright alright…  I’m a coward, I know.

But that’s not the point.

Let me get back to the point…

So, I respond with this e-mail, right?

And, by the way, this e-mail wasn’t your ordinary “Cassie,” e-mail either. Why? I just wrote it. I didn’t think about every word. And, I flat out stated my dreams as if they were the real thing. I told him that I was going to be a writer.

Those words don’t come out of my mouth, let alone get typed out for another person to read…

Not Cassie.

He responds. But, not only does he respond, but he begins to drag me out of my comfort zone by insisting that I follow up with a phone call…

***Alert! Not Cassie behavior… Writing the email: comfort, I like to write.

                                                                Making a phone call: hold up… I’m not the outspoken type.

                                                                Well… not without the Spirit I’m not.

And then continues to drag me out of my comfort zone by insisting that I drop everything I’m doing and write about what Sustainability means to me as a “Christian.”

***Alert! Not Cassie behavior… Drop everything I’m doing, mister? I have created for myself a surplus of unfinished homework that I have to finish by tomorrow, not to mention I haven’t gotten much sleep.

And continues to drag me out of my comfort zone by insisting that I don’t think about what I’m writing, just write it.  

***Alert! By now, you already know that’s not Cassie behavior.

And, I am beginning to get a little surprised by how much this man seems to see right through me.

Now, he’s on the Spirit’s side. Not Cassie’s.

When I begin to hesitate in mind, planning to ask him for more time…

“No. Right now.

Do you want to be a writer, Cassie?

Do you want a mentor?”

….

Comfort. The consequence.

“Enough with the story, quit bolding the word sustainability and explain it…”

Sustainability: Meeting the needs of today without compromising the needs of tomorrow.

Alright David, here I go…

Many believe that for one to be “sustainable,” they have to become this environmental control freak who starts “going green” in every area of their life- all at once.

Many believe that for one to be a "Christian," they have to become this uptight religious freak who starts "doing the right thing," in every area of their life- all at once.  

However, what I have come to find in just these few weeks of Professor Whitworth’s Sustainability class, Sustainability it is quite different than the what “many believe.”

And, what I have come to find in the course of my "full ride" with Jesus, Christianity is quite different than what "most believe."

What have I come to find? I have come to find that much like Christianity, Sustainability is a lifestyle. However, contrary to what “many believe,” sustainability can be overcome in time.

Raw Sustainability, like raw Christianity, exposes you to truth. Suddenly, or gradually, your eyes are peeled open to the brokenness and the filthiness (literally) of this world, and you are overwhelmed with a sense of discontent that you can’t help but follow up with action. You want to see change. And you want to see it now.

But here comes the paradox…

You want to see it now. But, like I said, sustainability comes with time.

Real Sustainability, like real Christianity, is a step by step process. You just have to be willing.

Willing not only to humble yourself to change, but to humble yourself to change with time.

You just have to be willing. You just have to respond.

You just have to be willing to respond.          

Willing to respond to the voice in your head that gently reminds you that when you take a 20 minute shower, the amount of water you use has a global effect.

                Response? Stepping out a little earlier.

Willing to respond to the voice in your head that gently reminds you that you don’t need an entire napkin to spit out your gum.

                Response? Using the gum wrapper.

No, it won’t all come at once. If fact it’s not supposed to. Because at its core, Sustainability, like Christianity, is meant to be something you enjoy.

And, you can’t enjoy being sustainable if you’re worried about every step.

You can’t enjoy God if you are worried about every step, either.

Opposite of worry? Joy.

It’s easier to respond to something when it comes from joy, isn’t it?

Let’s rewind. I said earlier that raw Sustainability, like raw Christianity, exposes you to truth.

Yes, there is the tougher truth that I had mentioned before, but there is also another truth.

When learning about Sustainability, you uncover the truth that the earth is actually beautiful, despite all the filth that fills our eyes and minds on a daily basis.  When learning about the truth of Christianity, you uncover the truth that God is actually good, despite all the evil that fills our eyes and minds on a daily basis.

When you find these simple truths, and you grab hold to the hope of an originally beautiful earth and the beautifully good God that created it, and you willingly respond with joy.

Like I mentioned earlier, Sustainability, like Christianity, is a lifestyle. It’s a step by step, fruitful, liberating, and empowering lifestyle.

And it comes from response.

And it just might be uncomfortable.

Hm, sounds familiar.

"Okay Cassie, now you're just leaving out the ugly part... you said there were all those consequences!"
You caught me.
But, I also left something else out.
It's completely worth it.

But, that's just another thing you just find out along the way...
How? You guessed it...
Step by step.
Just let Sustainability surprise you.
And if you're willing to respond,
you may let God surprise you, too.

Thank you, David.

Scratch that…

Thank You, Holy Spirit.

Than Sparrows?

Thanks to summer with Biology 110, today I learned that birds and humans are the only ones who roam this earth with 4 chambered hearts.

As I saw a bird fly across an open field today, I began to wonder if that was all the Lord had for us to share.

                 Naw, it can’t be.

Birds seem to be the last creature we compare us humans with. Although songs such as “I’m like a bird,” “I believe I can fly,” and “Freebird,” all may try to depict a close relationship between us, truly, they only dream up the fantasy-like sensation of what it may be like to have a bird’s daily life.

Come on Nelly, we aren’t like birds; we all really know where our home is.  

Come on R Kelly, we aren’t like birds; we can't really fly.

And come on Lynyrd Skynyrd, we aren’t like birds; we aren’t really free.

Or are we?

In Christ, aren’t we… free? (John 8:36)

Because of Him, won’t we one day… fly away? (1 Thessalonians 4:17)

And when we do, won’t we be… home? (Psalm 26:8)

I think, maybe, God did indeed want us to make a stronger parallel than just our 4 chambered hearts.

Come on, Cass.

Childish

“I tell you the truth,

anyone who will not receive

the kingdom of God

like a little child

will never enter it,”

Luke 18:17

I've been trying to identify, define, understand this specific aliveness that's come over me lately...

Lately I just don’t want to buy pre-opened nuts. I want to bust open pecans and walnuts and wonder over the designs inside.

Lately I want to rejoice over the brilliance in ribosomes and the endoplasmic reticulum.

Lately I want to sit on my knees and gaze at the sunrise and I want to look at cells under a microscope--utterly captivated--like it’s the best scene of a movie.

Lately I want to compare the infinitesimal size of those same cells to myself-- marveling over how small I must be in His hands.

Lately I want to go on a Daddy-daughter date night with my Father and dance the night away.
Lately I want to greet Him with "Goodmorning," when I wake up, and a close the day with a "Goodnight," as I fall into sleep.

Lately I don’t want to run on the sidewalk or a path, I want to run through the grass with no destination.

Lately I want to hold His hand in worship and tug on His sleeve in prayer.

Lately I don’t want to journal--I want to write Him letters.

Lately I just want to make God smile.

It might sound childish.

But lately,

I feel like that’s love.

Full Ride

“Blog, Cassie.”

“Hey Cass- blog.”

“I’ve said it, blog.”

“Blog-now.”

“All those thoughts- blog them.”

“Everything I’ve told you- blog it.”

“Not paper, not your journal- a blog.”

“You’ve written columns- blog.”

“I’ll help you- blog.”

“Blog.”

He’s told me. I’ve checked, re-checked, tripled-checked, and even fact-checked this whisper. And, I admit, this was not entirely because I wanted to be sure of His will for me.

I’ll tell you why…

I don’t know why.

I can’t give a full explanation as to why I let a combination of procrastination, doubt, and fear keep me from exposing

the daily interceding of my deepest passion: Jesus,

by means of the passion He instilled in me: writing.

In fact, I can assure you that there will be times in this partnership between the Lord and my typing hands where I am incapable of giving a full explanation to a lot of things.

Does it connect with the reasoning why it took me 9 of the 12 months I had of column freedom in high school, to muster up the courage to write about Him? Am I still held captive by that foolish bashfulness?

Again I am unsure. But, here you are, reading the happenings of my heart, mind, and soul- the contemplations and contradictions of my insides.

But hey- this is it.

Some see it as an escape for those “nerds,”

a disposal bin for those “thinkers,”

a release for those “tensed,”

a fantasy time-filler for those “writers.”

A journalist’s first step.

An adult’s MySpace.

A technological chalkboard.

Forget it all.

For me, this has to have nothing to do with me. No, not at all.

But, it has everything to do with someOne.

The One.

The One who is, has, and always will be infinitely more than I could ever write about.

Or, hey, even think about!

So, if you’re a Horned Frog, or any other symbol you choose to take pride in, many of us attend a university in which we pay more or less than $40,000 a year to learn x, y and z to do who knows what we want.

We shovel information into our minds as if we had room for it all. We jam pack our brains with knowledge we either know we will dispose of, or strive to keep a tight grip on.

Taught. Taught. Taught.

Shovel. Shovel. Shovel.

However, and I might just be letting you in on a juicy secret

(in which case I strongly suggest you to do your personal best to keep secret as OPEN as possible),

our God invites us into his wisdom- daily.

The God of all.

He will teach you something.

Not by means of a monotone voice, books, numbers and white boards, either.

It’s more like…

revealing to you a piece of His beauty,

unveiling to you a shrivel of His being,

letting you taste a bit of His goodness,

smothering you in His love.

Yes, little do we know, right before our eyes, every single day, is a God who is teaching us something extraordinarily personal, exhaustively profound, incredibly liberating, purely elucidating, uncommonly true, overwhelmingly peaceful- every single day.

Did I mention, this occurs every single day?

Oh yeah,

and it’s free.

One hundred percent zero cost.

No school supplies, not even a lunch box.

And, just maybe, if we keep our ears clean and our eyes wide, there will be much more than just one snapshot of His wisdom and love each day.

If we let ourselves, if we submit our minds and hearts this will be around every corner and under every footstep.

Every single day,

for all our lives,

for free.

Now, that is what I call a full ride.

And that is what I feel called to share with you: my full ride.

The entirely random yet purely divine lessons He is teaching me, whispers He passes through me, and simply the instances that indubitably show me how I am continually blessed by bearing the name of His child.

School may be out, but I’m still learning.

Learning, and delighting in every moment of it.

May you delight fully in whatever amount of Him you allow.

With His Love,

Cassandra Castillo