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