On a recent audiocast, Richard Rohr, noted speaker, author
and director of the Center for Action and Contemplation, extolled the virtue of
repeating the Rosary over and over again, as good Catholics used to do. He
claimed that most every religion in the world has used prayer beads and repetition
as a way to “rewire” the negative messages we have ingrained in our thoughts
from our upbringing and socialization.
Most of us react negatively to repetition. An example of
this is when we had an exchange student living with us for a year. Before each
meal, we repeated the same table grace, but she never joined in. When we asked
her about it, she said, “That prayer doesn’t come from the heart, God must be
bored with your repeating it over and over again.” Somehow or other, we have
been led to believe, especially in more charismatic circles, that prayers that
are repeated or written down to be read are not as “spiritual” as ones that are
spontaneous. Our student loved the worship services in which simple choruses
were sung. Somehow I had the presence of mind to respond to her, “Well, God
must be bored with your singing then, because you repeat the same things over
and over again.” After that she half-heartedly repeated the prayer with us.
In
defense of ritual, or repetition, Ronald Rolheiser, in his weekly article of
July 11, 2010, wrote: “A recent study on marriage points out that couples who
make it a habit to give each other a ritual embrace or kiss before leaving the
house in the morning and another ritual embrace or kiss before retiring at
night fare better than those who let this gesture be determined by simple
spontaneity or mood.” This is boring repetition.
Rolheiser
goes on to write, “It is a ritual, an act that is done regularly to precisely
say what our hearts and heads cannot always say, namely, that the deepest part
of us remains committed even during those times when we are too tired, too
distracted, too angry, too bored, too anxious, too self-preoccupied, or too
emotionally or intellectually unfaithful to be as attentive and present as we
should be. It says that we still love the other and remain committed despite
the inevitable changes and pressures that the seasons bring.” Repetition
“rewires” and reaffirms our commitment.
Returning
to Rohr’s point, he was not saying that we all need to pray the rosary, but
that we need some sort of positive repetition to “replace something that is
repetitive and negative or obsessive.” He calls this replacement therapy. “When
the obsessive fear-based word assaults you and wants to grab you,” he says,
“you find this [positive] word that’s deep within you. For many Christians it’s
Jesus—a word that re-grounds you in the positive. It’s rewiring.”
Rohr
claims that our minds are constantly thinking, and all serious religious prayer
“sends you into some sort of non-thinking practice, meditation, contemplation,
chant, mantra, rosary, something that stops this left-brain repeating of the
old party line, over and over again.” The old party line for him are negative,
obsessive thoughts that lead us to addictions.
The
Jesus prayer has been passed down through the ages as one of these repetitive
prayers. It has many different forms, but the most cited one is, “Lord Jesus
Christ, have mercy on me a sinner.” It can be used with sacred breathing
defined in my previous post, or I have often used it while I walk, repeating
the phrase with the rhythm of my steps. Repeating it over and over again helps
us to move to Paul’s admonition to “pray without ceasing.”
After
hearing Rohr’s audiocast, I now have ammunition for defeating my obsessive
snacking, probably rooted in some negative messages from my socialization. When
I want to reach for that piece of chocolate, or handful of chips, I will
repeat, “Jesus, you comfort me more than this ________ (fill in the blank).”
And according to Rolheiser, if I do this repeatedly, my commitment to Jesus
will be underscored, as his will to me.
How
do you use repetition of prayers or other spiritual practice to quiet your over
obsessive thoughts? To replace the negative with the positive?
The
full audiocast and question and answers can be downloaded at: https://cac.org/free-emotional-sobriety-mp3
Thanks for the article, Don. As one who reads a lot of poetry and even writes some, I too appreciate the power and positive impact of repetition. In poetry sometimes whole lines, single words, or maybe only a single sound is repeated. Sometimes the repetition is obvious and other times very subtle. For me repetition helps the message to sink deeper into my consciousness and enhances the memory. There is often something very delightful about a well written poem with repetitious sounds or words: it's the poetic equivalent of eating a tasty meal. Perhaps the most obvious example where repetition is used effectively is the Psalms. I was reminded of them when reading your article. I'm currently using a very brief 4-word prayer as my password for the computer charting system at the VA medical center where I work. It works really well as a reminder to stay connected with God. And since we have to change passwords every 3 months, I'll soon have to write another. Thanks again. Leonard Nolt
ReplyDeleteThanks for your response, Leonard! Thanks for the reminder of the power of poetry and repetition, and of course the Psalms. Short scripture verses can be repeated over and over to produce the "rewiring" Rohr talked about, and many people do this. Also, nice idea for the password!
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