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 22, 2007

I. Readings
Psalms 81, 116, 143
Nehemiah 9:1-25
Revelation 21:22-22:5
Matthew 18:1-9

II. Selections
Psalm 143:5
I remember the days of old,
I think about all your deeds,
I meditate on the works of your hands.

Nehemiah 9:12
" ...Moreover, you led [ our ancestors] by day with a pillar of cloud, and by night with a pillar of fire, to give them light on the way in which they should go. ... " [ Ezra's prayer]

Revelation 21:23
And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

Matthew 18:2-3
[ Jesus] called a child, whom he put among [ the disciples], and said, "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ... "

III. Meditation: Finding our way

We think about your deeds in days of old, how you led
your people by day with a pillar of cloud,
and by night with a pillar of fire.

And we contemplate words about how
your glory will light the new Jerusalem,
how its lamp will be your Lamb.

So much for the past and for the future,
but how do we find the way to your kingdom now?
We change and become like little children.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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