Reiterate

Reiterate. I love the sound of this word. It’s a fun thing to say. Go ahead, say it out loud three times. Now, imagine Hermione Granger saying it. :D

To reiterate means to say something again in order to reinforce it. Sometimes it is only in repetition that I gain the concepts I am trying to wrap language around. Saying it again does not make it old; it makes it stick.

For me, it’s essential to continue articulating what it is I do or want to do, and just as importantly, why. I am human, and I forget things. My purpose can be lost in the glow of other purposes. I can forget which voice is mine. I can lose my sense of conviction that each life and each of our chosen callings matter. I seem to think they all matter except for mine. Mine is lesser. I know this is not true but I often operate on this false supposition.

So today, on this frosty, snowy Monday, I want to remind myself as well as my readers what it is I work for:

I want to point the way to freedom, and facilitate growth. I want to empower people to claim their worth and dare to live out loud. I burn for justice, equality, mercy, and peace. I am committed to a love that is other-focused, even as I learn to care for my own self as an image-bearer of God. I know that dreams without action and actions without love will leave me empty and discouraged. I embrace the truth that in order for my words to mean something, I have to live them truly, every day.

Let me remember, and not forget. Let me remember, and not forget. With God’s help, may I remember, and never forget.

What do you need to reiterate today? What’s THE story you need to tell? What is something you value highly enough to repeat it?

Say it aloud, so your ears remember the sound.

Write it down so the printed words are sealed in your visual memory.

May we reiterate what’s important, again and again. Let’s make it stick.