Repetition

I’m thinking today about repetition.

About how, sometimes, I need to hear and see and do something over and over and over again for it to become real – for it to sink into the depths of my being and make a home there.

When a song or an album catches my heart, I will play it over and over and over again, until even I’m sick of it, but the messages that so grabbed me have begun to sink in.

There are books like this too. If you look in the sidebar at the list of books I’ve read this year, you’ll notice that there are two or three that I have indicated that I have read multiple times through. That’s not because the stories were particularly stunning (though they were well-crafted). It’s because something in the message of the book spoke to the depths of my heart, to the questions and the concerns, and the desires, and I needed to repeat the experience of reading it, and let it sink in.

I have a dear friend who lives in another part of the country, with whom I talk via email, online chats, or the phone, nearly every day. In the darkest moments, when nothing can penetrate, we talk. She speaks truth. And it usually takes a while for it to get through to my heart, to encourage me and pull me out of the heavy spots. But generally, by the time we finish talking (and sometimes praying) together, the truth in her words has begun to sink in, and I am able to regroup.

I’m thinking about repetition, and how glad I am that it’s an option.

How deeply needed it is.