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.

December 09, 2005

I. Readings
Psalms 16, 102, 130
Haggai 1:1-15
Revelation 2:18-29
Matthew 23:27-39

II. Selections
Psalm 102:2
Do not hide your face from me
in the day of my distress.
Incline your ear to me;
answer me speedily in the day when I call.

Haggai 1:4
Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?

Revelation 2:18-29
Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

Matthew 23:38
See, your house is left to you, desolate.

III. Meditation: A time to live in paneled houses?
Our world is left to us, desolate. We beg you not to hide your face from us in the day of our distress. We pray that you will incline your ear to us and answer us speedily in the day when we call. It is a strange prayer, for we are the ones hard of hearing. God, give us an ear to listen to what your Spirit is saying to the churches. Is it a time that we should live in our paneled houses, while so much of your world lies in ruins?

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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