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 14, 2006

I. Readings
Psalms 30, 86, 123
Joel 2:3-11
Revelation 19:1-10
Luke 14:25-35

II. Selections
Psalm 86:4
Gladden the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

Joel 2:3b
Before them the land is like the garden of Eden,
but after them a desolate wilderness,
and nothing escapes them.


Revelation 19:9a
And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb."

Luke 14:27-28
" ...Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? ... " [ Jesus to the large crowds traveling with him]

III. Meditation: Nothing escapes the locust horde.

You invite us to the marriage supper of the Lamb;
you gladden our souls as we lift them up to you;
but there is a price to pay, a cross to carry;
and we must sit down and estimate the cost.

As a locust horde clear-cuts the landscape,
changing a garden of Eden into a desolate wilderness,
so you call us to cut ourselves off from everything-
whatever stands in the way of following you.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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