I am an emeritus professor from Cornell University and was a Commissioned Lay Preacher in the Presbyterian Church (USA). For many years I have followed the Daily Lectionary as printed in the Mission Yearbook of my church. For each day of a two-year cycle, the lectionary lists four psalms and three other scriptural passages--usually one from the Old Testament and two from the New Testament. My practice is to copy down a verse or two from one of the psalms and from each of the other three passages. After I have written out all four selections, I reflect upon them, rearrange their order, and incorporate them into a meditation. Sometimes I retain much of the original wording; sometimes all that remains of a selection is an idea that was stimulated when I read the original words. All selections are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. For the Daily Lectionary, see the link below.

November 01, 2005

I. Readings
Psalms 42, 102, 133
Nehemiah 12:27-31a, 42b-47
Revelation 11:1-19
Matthew 13:44-52

II. Selections
Psalm 42:3
My tears have been my food
day and night,
while people say to me continually,
"Where is your God?"

Nehemiah 12:43
They offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. The joy of Jerusalem was heard far away.

Revelation 11:19
Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.

Matthew 13:44
"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. ..."

III. Meditation: People ask
Continually we hear the question, "Where is your God?" Tears have been our food day and night, and people ask where you are. At other times we rejoice with great joy, so that our joy is heard far away; and people want to know if you are the occasion of the rejoicing. What will we find, they ask, if we find your kingdom? Buried treasure, or flashes of lightning with rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail? Or all of the above? How shall we answer?

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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