From a Distance They Saw and Greeted Them

This meditation is based on a passage for January 30, 2011 in the Daily Lectionary Year 1 from the Book of Common Worship for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (1993).

Text: Hebrews 11:8-16

Reflection and Question: Virginia Davidson was a faithful saint of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) who died last year. She was on the Special Committee whose 1978 recommendation to allow ordination of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Presbyterians was defeated by a substitute motion that became the Definitive Guidance against ordination. Like Abraham, Virginia “died in the faith without having received the promises,” and, like Abraham, she is a model of how to live when we can only see “the better country, the heavenly one” from a distance. Virginia never wavered in her faith or her advocacy. What promise do you only greet from afar?

Prayer: God of our ancestors, we know that, when Abraham and Sarah set out for the land You promised, they had no idea where they were going. May their example so strengthen our faith that we will join them in the city You have prepared. Amen.