Today’s scripture: Matthew 6:7-8 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (Tyler Connoley):
One night, my extended family was sitting around talking about different worship styles, debating the positives and negatives of each. My Uncle Ed said, “The thing I don’t like are those Seven Eleven songs. You know, the ones where they only have seven words, and you sing them eleven times. It just seems like a bunch of vain repetition to me.”
Later, living in the Southwest United States, I had the opportunity to go to my first Rosary Vigil. In my part of the country, the night before a Roman Catholic funeral is the Rosary Vigil. Everyone gets together to remember the person who has died, and to say the rosary together. Since Catholic Funeral Masses are not allowed to include eulogies for the deceased, the vigil is often the only place where eulogizing happens. But, when I asked my coworkers what to expect at the vigil, one of them said, “a lot of vain repetition. They just say the same prayer ten thousand times.”
Both of these people were referring to Matthew 6:7, which says in the King James Version, “When ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do.” So, is that what Jesus was talking about here? Was he admonishing us not to sing choruses that repeat the same words over and over? Or not to use meditation practices that repeat simple prayers multiple times? I don’t think so.
What Jesus was speaking against was a practice of repeating a prayer out of a belief that God doesn’t hear us the first time — that God is somehow hard of hearing. There were people in Jesus’ day who taught that the gods needed people to to pray fervently and repetitively (and sometimes with practices like slashing their own bodies) to get the gods’ attention. They didn’t believe the gods really cared about humanity, and so we had to do something dramatic to wake them up. But Jesus taught us that “our Father in heaven” is always paying attention to us, and caring for us. We don’t need to do anything special to get God’s attention.
That said, there are times when we need some repetition to get us to pay attention to God. That’s what singing choruses, and doing meditative practices like the Rosary is all about. The repetition shakes us out of our routine and into the knowledge that God is present to us. Scientists tell us that these practices change our breathing and heart rate, and trigger a part of our brain that is wired to access the holy. These practices are not vain repetition, because they have a purpose — to move us into a frame of mind where we are open to God.
Thought for the day: Sometimes we need to be reminded of God’s love for us. Contemplative (and even repetitive) prayers and songs can be one way of waking up to God’s ever-presence.
If you’re interested in trying some contemplative practices that have worked for others in the past, here are some links* to follow:
- Radiant Worship – A contemporary Christian band devoted to praise and worship music. You can subscribe to their podcast from this page.
- The Taizé Community – A worship community that uses contemplative songs and choruses with an ancient feel. You can subscribe to their podcast from this page.
- Centering Prayer – A form of contemplative prayer that encourages people to focus on one word or phrase as a way of centering one’s thoughts on God.
- Rosary – The traditional Catholic Rosary, which includes asking Mary, the mother of Jesus, to pray for us.
- Rosary Prayers – A list of Rosary prayers that may be more comfortable for Protestants, including an Ecumenical Rosary and a Lutheran Rosary.
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.
*Our providing these links isn’t an endorsement of the sites or of any of their content. We hope they’ll be useful, but please evaluate these just as you would any other Christian resource.