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.

Different, but Equal in God's Sight--Nov. 11, 2018


In your kingdom, the needy sitting in an ash heap
and the poor living in the dust, rank with royalty.
You love the latecomer as much as the early bird.

Whatever spiritual gifts we have received,
they are given for building up your church.
As each locust has a role in devouring crops,
the Spirit has a part for each one of us to play.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 19; 150; 81; 113
Joel 1:1-13
1 Cor. 14:1-12
Matt. 20:1-16

Selected Verses
Ps. 113:7-8
[The LORD] raises the poor from the dust,
          and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
to make them sit with princes,
          with the princes of his people. 

Joel 1:4
What the cutting locust left,
     the swarming locust has eaten.
What the swarming locust left,
     the hopping locust has eaten,
and what the hopping locust left,
     the destroying locust has eaten.

1 Cor. 14:12
So with yourselves; since you are eager for spiritual gifts, strive to excel in them for building up the church.

Matt. 20:15-16
"…'Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?  Or are you envious because I am generous?'  So the last will be first, and the first will be last."  [Jesus, with the words of the owner of the vineyard, to the workers hired early]

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