So, that last little one and the comments got me thinking. What do we repeat that we take for granted, or should we repeat (and don't?) ? This will be fun.
Sex. Ooo, I'll get hits from this, ha! Are you married? If not, I'm not talking to you (sex outside marriage is baaad, mm'kay). So, sex - we repeat that, don't we? I'll say yes. Hooray! Did we get married and just do it that one night and that was it? No. Well, we didn't. This will relate to the next one, I promise.
The Eucharist. How many times have you received Christ in the Eucharist? Now, I realize right away, that can be a tricky question. Do you even believe you're receiving Christ in the Eucharist? Well, we can talk about your theological problems later. OK, how often should we celebrate the Eucharist or Communion? I know there is a fairly popular philosophy in some Christian circles that we shouldn't do this very often because it will become common and won't be special any more. Here's what I like to ask people who say that: "How often do you think you should have sex with your spouse? Are you sure you don't want to cut that back to once a quarter so it will mean more and be more special?" Some thinking usually goes on about this time.
Prayer."Pray without ceasing" it is written. Wow! That's a lot. Soooo, every week? Every month? No, all the time. Repeat it. Oh, and there's that pesky thing so many love to focus on about "vain repetition" - yeah, you'd have to get all over the Psalms on that one. They are written song/prayers to be used by others, and they were, and are used, repetitively, and that's a good thing. Even those who think liturgical prayer or read prayers, etc. are "vain repetition" pray certain things repetitively - they begin and end their prayers the same and I guarantee you the middles often sound very similar as well. That whole thing was about being heard because of "many words," not reading or repeating certain prayers. So pray, repetitively, all the time.
Saying I love you. If you're married, did you just say this once, at the altar when you promised your life to the other? I hope not. Did you parents say it once to your children when they were born and now no more? I hope, for the sake of you children, that they hear it often. Do your friends know that you love them? "Well sure they do, I don't have to tell them that." Just go on thinking that. How about God? He knows all things, why do we need to tell Him anything? If it were only a matter of His theological virtues as compared to ours, OK fine, but we're talking about a relationship here, aren't we? Are we? If we are, then you tell Him constantly that you love Him, and know that He is eternally telling you the same. Does it make love more real if we say it? Hmm, may be. It drives the reality of something we may think we or the other already knows, deeper inside us or them. When we hear it or say it, it becomes, to us, more real.
"Then, if we cannot as yet think alike in all things, at least we may love alike. Herein we cannot possibly do amiss." John Wesley
"Keep your eyes on the crucifix, for Jesus without the cross
is a man without a mission, and the cross without Jesus
is a burden without a reliever." Fulton J. Sheen
"...I am deeply convinced that the Christian leader of the future is called to be
completely irrelevant and to stand in this world with nothing to offer but his or her own vulnerable self." Henri Nouwen
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