Repetition

"A baseball swing is a very finely tuned instrument. It is repetition, and more repetition, then a little more after that. "

Reggie Jackson

Repetition.

Recurrence.

Reiteration .

Saying it over again.

Repeating the same thing.

It bores me.

So I was supremely disappointed many years ago to find that the Liturgy of the Hours during the Octaves of Christmas and Easter uses the same psalmody and prayers over and over again for an entire week! Likewise, in the Benedictine Breviary, the one-week psalm cycle forces one to return all too soon to psalms which look increasingly familiar.

But, you know what?

That repetition is a wise thing, my friend.

This year I have found myself settling in to places of quiet and meditation I never knew before, partially because the endless cycle of prayer takes me back over and over again.

The track becomes a well worn path. See the reference to herb garden and boots in my post on the movie "Into Great Silence." See the movie, and understand.

Repetition, if rightly used, re-enforces a message which then gets down into the deep structures of the soul.

Christ is Risen! Christ is Risen! Christ is Risen!