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 21, 2006

I. Readings
Psalm 18:1-20, 62, 126
Isaiah 29:9-24
Revelation 21:9-21
Luke 1:26-38

II. Selections
Psalms 126:2
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then it was said among the nations,
"The LORD has done great things for them."

Isaiah 29:13
The Lord said:
Because these people draw near with their mouths
and honor me with their lips,
while their hearts are far from me,
and their worship of me is a human commandment learned by rote ...

Revelation 21:10
And in the spirit [ the angel] carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.

Luke 1:28
And [ the angel Gabriel] came to [ Mary] and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord be with you."

III. Meditation: No one knows

We draw near with our mouths
and honor you with our lips,
but our hearts are far from you-
our worship, human commandment learned by rote.

Thus we experience no angel greeting,
are carried to no high mountain,
see no heavenly vision.

Our mouths are not filled with laughter,
our tongues express no shout of joy,
and no one knows the great things
that you have done for us.

No comments:

Post a Comment