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 10, 2007

I. Readings
Psalms 40, 67, 122
Amos 7:1-9
Revelation 1:1-8
Matthew 22:23-33

II. Selections
Psalm 122:6
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
"May they prosper who love you.
Peace be within your walls,
and security within your towers."

Amos 7:7
This is what [ the Lord] showed me: the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand.

Revelation 1:8
"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

Matthew 22:31-32
" ...And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is God not of the dead, but of the living." [ Jesus to the Sadducees]

III. Meditation: Not walls or towers

Peace and security are much to be prized,
but they do not come from towers, walls.

Neither physical walls, nor social walls
will maintain durable peace and security.

You set a plumb line against such walls,
and always you find them out of plumb.

Not walls, but you, the God
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
are the source of our security.

You, the Alpha and the Omega,
who are, were, and are to come,
you are the author of our peace.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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