Most agree that repetition is the foundation for learning. Many remember all the way back to elementary school and our set of homemade 3" x 5" flash cards with the times tables . . . 2x2, 2x3, 2x4 all the way up to 12x12. Parents or siblings would "flash" the card with the multiplication equation toward the student and the answer on the opposite side. The repetitions continued until each answer was etched into the student’s brain for life.
Reggie Jackson said of batting, "A baseball swing is a very finely tuned instrument. It is repetition, and more repetition, then a little more after that." Elizabeth Arden who built a financial empire marketing women’s cosmetics said, "Repetition makes reputation and reputation makes customers." Athletes who perform at a professional or Olympic level of any sport hone their abilities with repetition. Skills, reputation and character are crafted by time-consuming repetitions.
The Prophet Amos is the master of repetition. At least seven times in the first two chapters of his recorded work the farmer-prophet says, "For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not turn back . . ." The sins of Israel included cruelties, injustices, "stifling all compassion" (1:11) and other abuses of people. "Human trafficking," the contemporary synonym for "slavery," and abortion are singled out as especially heinous. Amos reminds us that God hates brutality and violence, expressions of unchecked anger but loves compassion.
The efforts of relief agencies like Convoy of Hope, Samaritans’ Purse, the Salvation Army and others ought to be applauded by every American. Better yet, their efforts ought to be supported with dollars and prayers. Every attempt to ease human suffering is a worthy endeavor, and charitable compassion of Christian people is a testimony to a world without faith and without God.
Before repairs to the present devastation in the Philippines are finished the United States will probably lead the world in restoring another nation. Memories rooted in spiritual awakenings and Biblical truth still propel us toward scenes of despair and devastation. I offer a few words of caution. First, the typhoon which apparently killed more than 10,000 people occurred only fine days ago and the needs and cries for help were moved to page "A6" in this morning’s "Philadelphia Inquirer," displaced by the signing of a 36-year-old free agent by the hometown Phillies, an opinion about the Pope by the local arch bishop and the merger of two airlines. The value of human life was deemed of less and importance than sports, religious opinion and business.
The repetition of "For three sins . . . even for four" ought to thump away in the human breast like the rhythms of the human heart. If I was an 81-year-old woman whose home was swept away by a 40' wave and if I hadn’t had a meal for days, I would certainly be praying that my plight hadn’t been moved to page "A6." May I suggest, maybe three or four times, that we do everything in our power to alleviate suffering as a testimony to those who are looking on?
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