Repeat, repeat and repeat again

It’s worth repeating. We become what we repeat.

It’s what we do over and over again that changes us — and in life defining moments get all the attention.

They open our eyes and awaken us to new possibilities. They turn us in a new direction but don’t transform us. It’s what we do after our defining moments that matter.

The habits we practice shape us.

I wish there was a sermon, an inspirational worship service, or a prayer that could change everything for us. It would be so much easier.

Now and then someone will find sobriety after a prayer, or a marriage will be saved after an inspirational message. But most of the time, if not all of the time, it does not work that way. It takes perspiration not inspiration.

Sobriety comes after attending hundreds of AA meetings and working the 12 steps. A marriage is saved by getting counseling and putting into daily practice what was learned.

One morning, as the sun was coming up on a crisp, cool day, I was trout fishing on the Spring River. I was overwhelmed with joy and gratitude as the sun rose. But I didn’t just get up one morning and decide to go fishing. Well, actually I did, but I was not very good.

If memory serves me, I was skunked that day. I saw other people catching trout and many had limited out.

It has taken me years of casting (and losing good lures I might add) to be a fairly good caster. I have lost count on how many I lost on the far bank of Potts Creek in Virginia and now the Spring River in Arkansas.

I still have my bad days casting for fish, but I have more good days. But the key point is that I didn’t give up.

I kept casting.

I once asked an old angler how you become better at fishing. I was hoping he’d give up where his “honey holes” were but alas he did not. He did tell me one of his secrets was that he dipped his lure in tobacco juice from his chew. Alas, I knew I’d never use that secret weapon for filling a stringer.

He said, keep going as many times as you can. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

You can change your life. Stuck doesn’t have to describe you. All things are possible in Jesus Christ.

“I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” Says the apostle Paul in Philippians 4:13.

All you need is a little faith, some effort, and discipline. All we are required to do is to take our best next step.

As the Chinese proverb says, “a journey of thousand miles begins with a small step.” Do it day after day. The impact is multiplied.

This is more than cheerleading. This is affirmed in our Christian heritage which has been practiced for thousands of years. They are called spiritual practices.

Spiritual practices are specific activities you do to deepen our relationships with the sacred and the world around us.

Spiritual practices open us up for God to change us. They help us discover our deepest values. They address our longing to connect with the divine nature of God. Also, spiritual practices do not have to be complicated.

Simple practices of reading the Bible daily, (Lectio Divina), setting a time of daily prayer, and perhaps as Jesus says, a time of weekly fasting are easy to begin.

“We are what we practice,” Jewish writer Avram Davis observed.

Repeat, repeat, and repeat again.

It’s where God’s grace meets our effort.

Rev. Frank Chlastak began work as senior minister of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Poplar Bluff on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2015. He is a graduate of Northeast Louisiana University and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and has served congregations of the Christian Church in Louisiana, Arkansas, Virginia, Oklahoma and Missouri. He believes that God’s love in Christ extends to all people, and that ours should also.