It took a year to read the Bible, then almost 9 months to read the Apocrypha. Now, I'm going to try to offer reflections on the Narrative Lectionary. But, I won't be posting daily--at least, for a while.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Thankfulness, a reflection on Psalm 100

For Thanksgiving day, the psalm responding to the reading from Deuteronomy is 100. Go to Jack and Lauri Marti or the Norfolk State University Concert Choir sing Psalm 100.

Here's a repeat of a discussion of this psalm I posted in June, 2008 (not Thanksgiving Day but any day is a day for us to be thankful.

Reading Psalm 100 and asking Who? and Where?
I once asked a group of church-goers what scripture they had memorized. Several named Psalm 100. I was not surprised because when I was a child I had been encouraged to learn this psalm either at Sunday School or Vacation Bible School.

I don't know what I made of that phrase "all the earth" when I was trying to memorize Psalm 100. I'm not even sure if I learned it in the NRSV or KJ. I'm not sure what I mean by it when I say it today. Who is being called to make this joyful noise? Am I recognizing Christians in other countries? Am I including Jews? What about Muslims? What about everybody else, those who don't descend from Abraham?

What do I think about "his gates"? Am I restricting the meaning of this phrase to church buildings (and synagogues and mosques)? Can God's gates include somewhere outside the church building? That is, am I restricting worship to a kind of formal space?

No comments: