and we clap our hands.

Now, it's time for Palm Sunday revisited.
What does the church look like?

I think it sort of looks like seven congregations speaking different languages gathering outside in City Heights to read the story of Christ's triumphal entry.
I think it looks like waving palm branches and singing Hosanna with people you love, people you don't know, and people you might not have cared to know before.

I think it looks like living in the midst of this song, this praise, while watching a man get arrested outside the doors of the church. and living in that tension, and not knowing the answers to the questions that come to your mind.

questions like, wait, so what does the church look like? and what does justice look like?

pass the peace of Christ. wait, how do you do that?
partake of the Eucharist, the holy meal, the Lord's supper.
become re-membered to this body, this bride, this supposed representation of who Christ is, was, will be. anticipate the coming of good Friday, and of Easter.
wait, what does that look like again?

I think the church looks like people. people who are different. who disagree. people who see the world differently. and because of that can see the parts others may overlook.

when we can have the heart of Christ
to understand what it means to follow the God of the broken. to be a friend to the weak.
to wash the feet of the weary. to embrace the ones in need.

yes. i quoted vineyard. props to you, vineyard. good song.

the trains carry our secrets away. toot toot!

whenever i think about sitting down to write something, i think of way too many things to write about. and then when i actually sit down to stop, think, process, write...i feel like i don't actually have anything to say.

but i realize it has been a few days since i've been here...to this magical space i have for some reason created for myself.
so, here goes.

today is Tuesday...for now...but let's revisit to Palm Sunday.
actually. let's revisit to pre-Palm Sunday Saturday...
i am always thankful for quality time with friends. and for opportunities to escape the everyday events with a trip to the beach with great people.
enter the adventures of the train whisperers...
our first quest: to make dinner...italian sandwiches, a definite success. yay for avocado..you don't get that in the caf, no sir.
next, we tell secrets, but only when the train goes by to carry them away never to be heard again.
then we storm the city...or just stroll through little italy..and accidentally set off a parking garage alarm trying to sneak in so we can see airplanes land.
there's nothing like a good prayer before a meal, a nice warm cup of apple cider, and good conversations with people you love.

train whisperers.secret tellers.adventurers.thinkers.talkers.

to be continued in a few minutes.

Lestat's has better coffee.

All-nighters are my favorite thing to do. Aren't they your favorite thing to do?

They should be. It's kind of like this:
When you already know you're going to be up all night...the pressure is sort of off...as long as it's not 5 a.m. and you're still only halfway done with your assignment due at 8 a.m.

let's hope that doesn't happen....

thank goodness for americanos. with raw sugar. and half and half.

Any given Saturday.

On any given Saturday, Cassie might do any of these things:

- wake up earlier than most would care to, and walk to con pane for some delicious breakfast with a fabulous person of choice.
-bust out her jam jar for a drink of water at the bakery
-have some great discussions about life
-contemplate getting a piercing of some kind
-sort out some mail, and recycle a lot of it because the mail system is a bit flawed
-get a surprise visit/pb&h sandwich from a good friend
-contemplate doing something like studying, but then find something more entertaining and less productive
-talk to a family member or old friend about life
-sew something, such as a skirt
-celebrate life with friends
-spin around in the grass until she falls
-burn some incense ( i mean, what?)
-sing, laugh, listen, yell, drive, write
-come home to an empty room, and realize she has no one to hang out with
-make attempts to call people and hang out, and fail...because they are 1.not on campus; 2. napping; 3.already have friends.
-still manage to be extremely unproductive

On any given Saturday, life may be both extraordinary and quaintly mundane. On any given Saturday life may be both lonely and filled with love and friendship. On any given Saturday, life may be lazily calm or crazy like pop rocks. such is life. right? maybe.

This week I am thankful.

This week I am thankful for friends.

Over spring break last week, I went on a little adventure to the city of Saint Francis. Home of the Golden Gate Bridge, the Giants, and the most delicious soup-in-a-bread-bowl you've ever had.


It was definitely an experience to be remembered. Fifteen of us college kids, some close friends, others soon to become close friends, drove north in anticipation of the coming week.

Here are some things we shared
-our water bottles
-a house and a (single) bathroom
-bus seats
-meals
-laughter
-difficult questions
-funny songs
-frustrations
-vulnerability
-honesty
-excitement
-moments...because my good earth tea said "we do not remember days, we remember moments"

there is much more to be explained...but i don't think i'm ready to write it all out yet. so it will have to wait until a bit later. there will be pictures too. exciting? yes.

we returned from the week tired, filled with questions, frustrations, and a deeper desire to figure out what this thing called life is. and how, in this life, do we learn to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly.

this week i am thankful for friends.
a wise and beautiful woman (whose name may, or may not, be Melissa Tucker) brought me to this conclusion. we talked about the importance of friendships as you face difficulties, as your worldview gets turned upside down, as you feel surrounded and overwhelmed by the questions and issues that come with a deeper perception of this world we live in. we talked of the comfort of knowing that you are not the only one surrounded by this cloud, that someone else has those questions too. and you can ask them together. isn't that grand?

one other thing i am thankful for: we follow a God who does not grow weary. This is something i am clinging to as i sit in the tension of what i see in the world, my desire to change things, and my feeling that i am absolutely helpless to do anything of the sort.


i don't know what else to say right now, except that changes are a'coming.
(also, honey nut shredded wheat is delicious.)

So this is what we do.

Apparently what we do is blog. we post the secrets of our hearts on the world wide web hoping that someone will read them. or maybe not read them.
We ask questions we don't believe anyone would listen to. Or maybe they are simply easier to type than to speak.
I suppose I am creating this space for those questions. A space of sanity when my world is rocked...like a quiet wood or a lone oak tree in a field to sit beneath.
I like to think that we can learn a lot from trees. It just takes a little patience.

It's almost 1:30...and I'm not making any sense, so I will leave you with this. Because this is how I feel.