[Uucf-bible] Lectionary Readings for this Sunday

[Martha Kirby Capo]

You know, I'm so glad you posted this--I would love to hear other folks'
responses to what--to me, anyway--seems to be a real downer cluster of
readings this Sunday (Ecclesiastes 1:12-14;2:1-7,11,18-23; Psalm
49:1-11; Colossians
3:5-17, Luke 12:13-21). It happens that we (the Episcopal church where I'm
employed) have a baptism this Sunday as well--I'm thinking, what with the
lectionary, this is one of the LAST Sunday's I'd pick for a baptism!

Pax,
-- 
Martha
www.xanga.com/marthakirbycapo
"Hymn texts for Unitarian Universalist Composers."

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On 7/31/07, RevRonRobinson at aol.com <RevRonRobinson at aol.com> wrote:
>
> Hi all. Now back from vacation; hoping to pick back up with regular
> posting
> from the revised common lectionary for your reflection, lectio divina
> prayer,
> response, discussion. Check out the source at _www.textweek.com_
> (http://www.textweek.com) .
>
> I think this coming Sunday's selections are particularly apt for
> me,  anyway,
> and for this time of the year when we begin to go into "planning
> mode"  for
> our work, our lives. May we live in a spirit of "abundance" and
> not  "scarcity
> modes"; may we know the "enough" in which we already live and have
> our  being
> as gifts given unto us; may we find ways to empty our
> storehouses...blessings, Ron
>
> Luke 12:13-21: Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother
> to divide the family inheritance with me." 14But he said to  him, "Friend,
> who
> set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?" 15And he said to them, "Take
> care! Be on your guard against all  kinds of greed; for one's life does
> not
> consist in the abundance of  possessions." 16Then he told them a parable:
> "The
> land of a  rich man produced abundantly. 17And he thought to
> himself,  'What
> should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?' 18Then he said, 'I
> will do
> this: I will pull down my barns and  build larger ones, and there I will
> store all my grain and my goods. 19And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you
> have
> ample goods laid up  for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' 20But
> God said
> to him, 'You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And
> the  things you have prepared, whose will they be?' 21So it is  with those
> who
> store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God."
>
> And from the opening of Ecclesiastes:
>
> 1The words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in  Jerusalem. 2Vanity
> of
> vanities, says the Teacher, vanity of  vanities! All is vanity. 3What do
> people
> gain from all the  toil at which they toil under the sun?
> 4A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth  remains
> forever.
> 5The sun rises and the sun goes down, and  hurries to the place where it
> rises.
> 6The wind blows to the  south, and goes around to the north; round and
> round
> goes the wind, and on its  circuits the wind returns. 7All streams run to
> the
> sea, but  the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there
> they
> continue to  flow. 8All things are wearisome; more than one can
> express;  the
> eye is not satisfied with seeing, or the ear filled with hearing.
> 9What has been is what will be, and what has been done is  what will be
> done;
> there is nothing new under the sun. 10Is  there a thing of which it is
> said, "
> See, this is new"? It has already been, in  the ages before us. 11The
> people
> of long ago are not  remembered, nor will there be any remembrance of
> people
> yet to come by those who  come after them.
> 12I, the Teacher, when king over Israel in Jerusalem,  13applied my mind
> to
> seek and to search out by wisdom all  that is done under heaven; it is an
> unhappy business that God has given to human  beings to be busy with. 14I
> saw all
> the deeds that are done  under the sun; and see, all is vanity and a
> chasing
> after wind. 15What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking
> cannot be counted. 16I said to myself, "I have acquired  great wisdom,
> surpassing
> all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has  had great
> experience
> of wisdom and knowledge." 17And I  applied my mind to know wisdom and to
> know
> madness and folly. I perceived that  this also is but a chasing after
> wind.
> 18For in much wisdom  is much vexation, and those who increase knowledge
> increase
> sorrow.
> 2I said to myself, "Come now, I will make a test of  pleasure; enjoy
> yourself.
> " But again, this also was vanity. 2I said of laughter, "It is mad," and
> of
> pleasure, "What use is  it?" 3I searched with my mind how to cheer my body
> with  wine—my mind still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on
> folly,
> until I  might see what was good for mortals to do under heaven during the
> few
> days of  their life. 4I made great works; I built houses and planted
> vineyards for myself; 5I made myself gardens and parks, and  planted in
> them all kinds
> of fruit trees. 6I made myself  pools from which to water the forest of
> growing trees. 7I  bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were
> born in
> my house; I also  had great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any
> who
> had been before me  in Jerusalem. 8I also gathered for myself silver and
> gold
> and the treasure of kings and of the provinces; I got singers, both men
> and
> women, and delights of the flesh, and many concubines. 9So I  became great
> and
> surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem; also my wisdom  remained
> with
> me. 10Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep  from them; I kept my heart
> from
> no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all  my toil, and this was my
> reward for all my toil. 11Then I  considered all that my hands had done
> and the
> toil I had spent in doing it, and  again, all was vanity and a chasing
> after
> wind, and there was nothing to be  gained under the sun.
> 12So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly;  for what can the
> one
> do who comes after the king? Only what has already been  done. 13Then I
> saw
> that wisdom excels folly as light excels  darkness. 14The wise have eyes
> in
> their head, but fools walk  in darkness. Yet I perceived that the same
> fate
> befalls all of them. 15Then I said to myself, "What happens to the fool
> will happen
> to  me also; why then have I been so very wise?" And I said to myself that
> this also  is vanity. 16For there is no enduring remembrance of the  wise
> or of
> fools, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long  forgotten.
> How
> can the wise die just like fools?
> 17So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was  grievous to me;
> for all is vanity and a chasing after wind. 18I hated all my toil in which
> I had
> toiled under the sun, seeing  that I must leave it to those who come after
> me
> 19—and who  knows whether they will be wise or foolish? Yet they will be
> master of all for  which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This
> also is
> vanity. 20So I turned and gave my heart up to despair concerning all
> the  toil
> of my labors under the sun, 21because sometimes one who  has toiled with
> wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by  another
> who did not
> toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. 22What do mortals get
> from
> all the toil and strain with which  they toil under the sun? 23For all
> their
> days are full of  pain, and their work is a vexation; even at night their
> minds do not rest. This  also is vanity.
>
>
>
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