The parallelism of the psalms is a key to praying them. Just as the rhythm of music invites us to join in a dance, the rhythm of the psalms invites us to join in a dance, the rhythm of the psalms invites us to step into them with our whole self ... Repetition in prayer is a way of holding God in remembrance. The images of such prayer lodge deep within us and surface at other periods of our life. When we move quickly from one idea to another, it is difficult to let any one thought sink in and deepen within us. By quietly reiterating a theme or image, a psalm calms our restless hearts and gently leads us into a prayerful attitude.
I am done with great things And big things, great institutions And big success, and I am for those Tiny invisible molecular moral Forces that work from individual To individual, creeping through The crannies of the world like So many rootlets, or like the Capillary oozing of water, Yet which, if you give them Time Will rend the hardest monuments Of our pride.
~ from THE LETTERS OF WILLIAM JAMES by William James
