Here’s a feel-old realization for you: Seinfeld, which started in 1989, is 25 years old. In the 90’s I watched it every Thursday night I was home, and since then I watch the reruns which live on in syndication. I often say, “That reminds me of the Seinfeld episode . . .” If you watched it you know what I’m talking about: the George Costanza wallet, “Serenity now!”, regifting--all these things are placed in our cultural consciousness by Seinfeld. When my sabbatical started last June I immediately thought of the Summer of George and named my summer off the “Summer of Jason.” I’ve seen so many of these shows so many times that my brain references them instinctually. That’s good and bad; it was a clever show but the final episode showed the only place to leave its self-absorbed characters was jail, and there are better characters to continually be advising the conversation in my head.

If you’ve visited a monastery you know the thing monks hear again and again is the Psalms. Chapter 9 of Benedict’s Rule prescribes how many Psalms to be sung during Vigils, the Night Office. It’s surprising how mundane his prescriptions are: 6 Psalms as well as Psalm 3 and 94 every morning. Interspersed among the Psalms the monks are to stand and reverence the Trinity by bowing and reciting “Glory be to the Father . . .” Their other daily gatherings of prayer revolve around them chanting the Psalms, too, and in two weeks they have recited every Psalm. Every year they pray every Psalm at least 26 times, and some are heard every day. If a monk lives in a monastery for decades he or she prays the Psalms hundreds and thousands of times. I noticed, during my visits to monasteries during the summer, that certain Psalms became familiar. “There’s that one again,” I thought as we quietly recited or chanted a Psalm. I haven’t experienced it, but the words of the Psalms must become a part of the consciousness of monks. Without trying I’m sure their mind immediately goes to the words, just as my mind goes to Seinfeld quotes, of the Psalms.

There are scripture passages I’m friendly with. Some are like old friends--it’s good to see each other now and then. What Benedict asks for is not a casual acquaintance; he wants to marry us to the Psalms. Benedict invites us not to know the Psalms from a distance but to join them into the daily rhythm of life until they become the language of our hearts and souls.