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.

Waiting for the Banquet--Oct. 31, 2020


Dear God, I have no understanding

how to calculate anything about

the beasts in Revelation or

the pains they inflict.

 

I do know, however, 

it is wrong to suppose

I am exempt from those

who suffer pain and grief. 

 

Our souls cling to you;

let your right hand uphold us

as we wait for the knock on the door

when you will invite us to your banquet.

 

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 63; 149; 125; 90

Nahum 3:8-19

Rev. 13:11-18

Luke 12:32-48

 

Selected Verses 

Ps. 63:8

My soul clings to you;
          your right hand upholds me.

 

Nahum 3:8

Are you better than Thebes
     that sat by the Nile,
with water around her,
     her rampart a sea,
     water her wall?

 

Rev. 13:18

This calls for wisdom: let anyone with understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a person.  Its number is six hundred sixty-six.

 

Luke 12:36

“…be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks.  …”  [Jesus, to his disciples]


Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

1 comment:

  1. Mea SententiaOctober 31, 2020 at 11:29 AM

    I had a hospice patient who liked McDonalds cheeseburgers, so I always brought him a bag full. His name was Jesus, and he lived in a little apartment. One day the order number was 666, in large numbers stapled to the bag. So the Beast fed Jesus that day.

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