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 17, 2006

I. Readings
Psalms 24, 25, 110
Isaiah 13:1-13
Hebrews 12:18-29
John 3:22-30

II. Selections
Psalm 24:7
Lift up your heads, O gates!
and be lifted up, O ancient doors!
that the King of glory may come in.

Isaiah 13:11
I will punish the world for its evil,
and the wicked for their iniquity;
I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant,
and lay low the insolence of tyrants ...

Hebrews 12:28
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe ...

John 3:29b-c
" ...The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. For this reason my joy has been fulfilled. ... " [ John the Baptizer to his disciples]

III. Meditation: The fate of the Bridegroom

John the Baptist rejoiced at the voice of Jesus,
though it meant a loss of his own importance.

John recognized a kingdom that cannot be shaken-
with reverence and awe gave thanks for it.

He lifted his head, opened the doors of his heart,
that the King of Glory might come in.

But John knew first hand about evil and wickedness;
he lost his life to the arrogant pride of an insolent tyrant.

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