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.


How Patient Must We Be?--Dec. 12, 2011



God, how patient must we be?
You have promised us an open door
that no one will be able to shut in our faces.

You have promised us a time
when the whole earth will be at peace.

You have promised to send out your angels
and gather your elect from the four winds.

You have promised to incline your ear
and hear our cry for justice.

How patient must we be, can we be?
Ah, our patience is nothing.

It is you who are the patient one;
It is you who wait for us.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 122; 145; 40; 67
Zech. 1:7-17
Rev. 3:7-13
Matt. 24:15-31

Selected Verses
Ps. 40:1
I waited patiently for the LORD;
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp he inclined to me and heard my cry.

Zech. 1:11
Then [red, sorrel, and white horses] spoke to the angel of the LORD who was standing among the myrtle trees, "We have patrolled the earth, and lo, the whole earth remains at peace."

Rev. 3:8a
"I know your works. Look, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. …" [He who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars, to the angel of the church in Philadelphia]

Matt. 24:31
"…And [the Son of Man] will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. …" [Jesus to his disciples]
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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