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 22, 2007

I. Readings
Psalms 72, 80, 90
2 Samuel 7:18-29
Galatians 3:1-14
Luke 1:57-66

II. Selections
Psalm 80:1a
Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock!

2 Samuel 7:18
Then King David went in and sat before the LORD, and said, "Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? ... "

Galatians 3:3
Are you so foolish? Having started with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh?

Luke 1:66
And all who heard [ these things about the birth of John] pondered them and said, "What then shall this child become?" For indeed, the hand of the Lord was with him.

III. Meditation: Are we so foolish?

Give ear, O Shepherd of your flock, for we need you to lead us;
may your hand be with us as we ponder the meaning of these days.
Who are we, who are our offspring, that you have brought us thus far?
We have started with the Spirit, now preserve us from ending with the flesh.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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