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.

The Gates of Our Souls--Dec. 5, 2010

Help us lift up the gates of our souls, O Christ,
to let you enter in, that we may grow in grace
and knowledge of you, our Lord and Savior.

Otherwise, the vines you have planted in
your vineyard will yield only wild grapes;
and we will praise evil and condemn good.

Lord, save us from finding fault with those
who are more righteous than we are, and
also with those whom we think are not.

Lectionary Readings
Psalms 24, 150, 25, 110
Isaiah 5:1-7
2 Peter 3:11-18
Luke 7:28-35

Selected Verses
Psalm 24:7
Lift up your heads, O gates!
      and be lifted up, O ancient doors!
      that the King of glory may come in.

Isaiah 5:4
What more was there to do for my vineyard
      that I have not done in it?
When I expected it to yield grapes,
      why did it yield wild grapes?

2 Peter 3:18
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

Luke 7:33-35
“…For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon’; the Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Nevertheless, wisdom is vindicated by all her children.” [Jesus to the crowds]
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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