Infinite Loops: Daily Déjà Vu and Other Familiarities

Much of life consists of repeating of daily tasks and responsibilities. These become habits and patterns that cast a haze over our days, blurring them together until they are scarcely divisible. Get up. Get ready. Eat. Work. Errands. Conversations. Exercise. Dinner. Activities. TV. Reading. Lights Out. And repeat tomorrow, and the next day, and the next.

Daily routines are not the only loops we find ourselves stuck in, however. Relationships, seasons, spiritual growth, TV shows, aging—everywhere you look, patterns and cycles can be found, causing us to feel like we’ve already seen it, been there, and done that.

How do we endure the frustrations of repeating circumstances? How can we move forward in trust that God is doing something new when we feel a bit like Phil Connors in Groundhog Day? The articles collected for this issue address infinite loops we encounter and how faith sees us through.

Joel Mayward speaks to the loops our careers take—and the often painful spiritual formation it introduces—in his feature, “Lose, Gain, Repeat: ‘Something, Anything’ and the Pilgrimage Toward Freedom”:

“Having gone through the wilderness, we are forever changed…until the next cycle begins, and the Spirit of God takes us on a journey through the wilderness once more. We lose. We gain. Then we repeat.”

Loops of loss and frustration are the focus of “Empty Bottles & Worn-out Mix Tapes,” the feature by Steve L. Woodworth. Woodworth gives a transparent account of his battle with destructive thought patterns and addiction, ultimately pointing to the God who walks with us until the loop is resolved:

“As another counselor once suggested, ‘God keeps bringing us back to the same campfires until we are willing to deal with it.’ So we snuff the flames or continue along the same worn path until He circles us back to the familiar glow. ‘How about now?’ He asks.”

Growing in faith is the ultimate loop—we cover familiar ground in scripture, songs, writings, prayer, all the while trusting that God is making us into something new and showing us treasures we couldn’t see last time around. Riley MacLeod supports this in his feature, “A Roguelike Faith: Starting again Every Day,” in which he compares patterns of daily faith to gaming:

“[Like these games], faith isn’t a journey that can be completed, a challenge to be beaten once and then looked back on with the satisfaction of saying, ‘Whew—I sure got good at that!’

[…]

“I end the Examen like I end a good Spelunky run: with a good story to tell and the desire to try again on the next round, to face the unique shape of tomorrow with the confidence of the eternal sameness that undergirds it, to move in an endless loop around the desire to grow in my life with God.”

Whatever loops you find yourself in, we trust this issue of Christ and Pop Culture Magazine will encourage you to continue on, in faith.

—Erin Straza

Illustration courtesy of Seth T. Hahne. Check out his graphic novel and comic review site, Good Ok Bad.