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 20, 2006

I. Readings
Psalms 17, 50, 53
Isaiah 28:9-22
Revelation 20:11-21:8
Luke 1:5-25

II. Selections
Psalm 17:5
My steps have held fast to your paths;
my feet have not slipped.

Isaiah 28:20
For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on it,
and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in it.

Revelation 21:3
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
"See, the home of God is among mortals,
He will dwell with them as their God;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them ... "

Luke 1:17
" ...With the spirit and power of Elijah [ John] will go before [ the Lord], to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." [ The angel Gabriel to Zechariah, father of John the Baptist]

III. Meditation: Make us ready for your coming

Our steps have not held fast to your path;
our feet have slipped from your way.
Without you our beds are too short,
our blankets too narrow to find rest.

Open our hearts,
like the hearts of children;
turn us away from disobedience
toward the wisdom of the righteous.

Make us ready, prepared for your coming,
for you will make your home with us;
you will dwell with us as our God,
and we will be your people.

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