“Last year was a year of again,” says Anne Kerhoulas in “What Another Year of Routine Teaches Us about God.”

Working from home again.
Homeschooling again.
COVID numbers rising again.

“We are creatures of again; we are made for again,” writes Kerhoulas. “So why does repetition feel like a curse instead of a blessing?” Kerhoulas goes on to consider the ways that again-ness appears throughout the Christian story.

“The Gospels reveal a man who was not bothered by being asked to heal again, teach again, explain who he was again.”

In our monotony, God calls to us, comforts us, and cares for us again and again. Our frustrations and exhaustion are not too much—no matter how many times we bring them to him. His ears stay open to us, ready to listen and receive us, again and again.