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Morning Meditation
October 24, 2026
Reading: Psalm 1:1-3
Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked, *
nor lingered in the way of sinners,
nor sat in the seats of the scornful!
Their delight is in the law of the Lord, *
and they meditate on his law day and night.
They are like trees planted by streams of water,
bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither; *
everything they do shall prosper.
Reading: James 2:14-17
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
Meditation by Glenn Beamer
Frequently I hear or read individuals make claims along the lines of “Based on Matthew 25, we can be pretty sure Jesus would have supported socialism,” or “Although Exodus, Deuteronomy and Ezekiel discourage usury, the bible does not specify an ‘excessive’ interest rate. Ergo 25% interest on medical debt is okay, even blessed by God.”
These claims are tiresome. Ascribing prescriptions and prohibitions to the bible generally and Jesus specifically, deprives us of finding common ground with which to live out our faith. These claims impose a wholly unrealistic mandate on scriptures’ authors and provide us with false confidence about solutions as if those solutions have been endorsed by God as beneficent and just.
Broadly, scriptures can underpin living our lives just and compassionate lives in a complex economy, in an increasingly fragile environment, during a scientifically advanced age. Scriptures create a foundation upon which to form our values; to ascribe to scripture our preferences for specific economic, environmental, and health choices is a fool’s errand.
Psalm 1 guides us to avoid the wicked, meditate on God’s word consistently, and become ‘like trees planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in due season…everything they do shall prosper.” This commendation applies to individuals of all persuasions and faiths. We must repeatedly ask ourselves if our endeavors are creating a peaceful, just, and prosperous communities. God knows we have different perceptions of constitutes peace, justice, and prosperity. The tensions among those perceptions create the parameters in which we can find God’s truth.
James calls us to act upon our contemplation of God’s word in our world, and it is often invoked by politicians. In the wake of George Floyd’s 2020 murder, then Vice President Biden said, "I grew up with Catholic social doctrine, which taught me that faith without works is dead, and you will know us by what we do." I have no doubt about President Biden’s sincerity. George Floyd’s death revealed persistent racial injustice, but that inequity did imply God’s approval to defund the police. James reveals that we have a collective responsibility to each other. James calls us to be empathetic, and scripture creates space for creative responses to challenges old and new.
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