The Big Picture: Continuing

Commentary

by

Practicing Faith

Oboedire | June 30, 2026

Not long after Jeannie and I  became friends with John Michael Talbot and his wife, Viola, he told us that his spiritual journey began as a Methodist. He writes about this in several of his books, doing so with appreciation.

But as he goes on to note, his return to faith (the theme of last week’s post) came through Roman Catholicism (in particular the Franciscan stream) and its liturgical spirituality. The daily office provided a foundation that his fluctuating experience failed to do so at times. Continuity was always there, even when he showed up some days with varying degrees of devotion.

But he also notes that it took quite a while before the daily liturgy became natural for him, upwards of five years as I recall. Its external value took time to become internal. Repetition was the means for moving it from written words in a book to a living word in his heart.

And that’s the purpose of today’s post. Repetition is a big-picture item in the spiritual life. Far from being “routine,” it is the route laid out for us in the spiritual life.

We know this from general life experience. I remember piano lessons that began with playing the scale over and over. Only then could I move on to simple songs, which also had to be played again and again. Each stage of my piano progression was made possible by repetition.

I do not play the piano today, and that for one simple reason: I stopped practicing. Today, I cannot read music or play it on the piano. When I stopped repeating, the music I was able to make eventually ceased too.

So, I am writing today to say, “Never disparage or diminish repetition.” Continue to practice the presence of God (Brother Lawrence). Keep the methods in Methodism (John Wesley) and liturgy in the life (John Michael Talbot). It may take time for the external practice to become an internal pattern, but it will. And when it does, our spiritual practices will be the means for experiencing the abundant life of God.

The Rev. Dr. Steve Harper is a retired seminary professor who taught for 32 years in the disciplines of Spiritual Formation and Wesley Studies. Author and co-author of more than fifty books.. He is also a retired elder in The Florida Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church.