Repetition: Perfection or Sorrow

"Liturgical ritual is meant to be repeated. We are not supposed to do it right the first time, and then be done with it. We are not supposed to do it better each year until we get it perfect. This year's Easter does not have to be new and improved, more dramatic and moving than last year's.
The perfection is in the repetition,
the sheer ordinariness,the intimate familiarity of a place known because we have visited it again and again, in so many different moments."

from the essay "The Book of Hours"
by Wayne Muller ~ in his book Sabbath
[p 89, emphasis added]

". . . And how we loved 'til the years were days
How we laughed all our tears away
And now the time begins to fade
Lover, am I coming home again?

There's a wisdom in the teachings of the old familiar songs
And a sorrow in repeating
all the old familiar wrongsAnd a lesson to be learned though I've known all day long
Lover, am I coming home again?"

Light a light, light a light for me
Bring me back home again . . .

from the song "Light a Light"
by Janis Ian ~ American musician
[emphasis added]

Street / Park lamps
above:
Duke University Campus ~ Durham, North Carolina
Astrid Park ~ Bruges, Belgium
Stadtpark ~ Vienna, Austria

below:
Williams Residence Courtyard
New Orleans, Louisiana

[postcard by Jan White Brantley]