Keep awake

Repetition is a great teacher. Repetition is how we learn things that are vital to our lives, but of themselves may not secure a place in our memory.

Repeat. The alphabet.

Repeat. The times tables.

Repeat. EGBDF.

So, if we want to remember something, repetition may be a good first step.

Jesus, we know, was a teacher who repeated things he wanted his people to recall. Stay awake. Be alert. Watch, for the day is surely coming. You will know when. The time is now.

The purpose is to keep key truths before us, within us, etched in minds, carried out by hands. Or, bad outcomes avoided because we are attentive.

It may be, also, that we use repetition as a way to keep certain important worldly things ever present in our minds.

ZIP code. Phone number. Numerical address. PINs. Birthdates, anniversaries. Last four digits of our SSN.

As we age, many things we committed to memory through repetition begin to elude our grasp.

At first, we fake it, change the topic, crack a joke. Oft times we lose many pieces of what once composed a life.

A dear friend of mine in California received the Alzheimer’s diagnosis this week. Those of us who loved her in brighter days, love her still. And long after she loses the memories of us, we will always love her.

Maybe there’s a lesson here. Love is passed along like the proverbial torch, from one of us to another, generation to generation. 

Remembering the details of our lives makes living them more efficient.

But the greatest meaning of our lives is not captured by remembering details. Rather, it is the measure of love that comes to us, carried along, shared with others, that softens the edges of who we might have been. Love makes us the best us we can be. And, hopefully, love lingers in our wake, free to all who follow along.