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.

October 04, 2006

I. Readings
Psalms 96, 132, 134
Hosea 3:1-5
Acts 21:15-26
Luke 5:27-39

II. Selections
Psalm 134:2
Lift up your hands to the holy place,
and bless the LORD.

Hosea 3:1
The LORD said to me again, "Go love a woman who has a lover and is an adulteress, just as the LORD loves the people of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes."

Acts 21:24b
" ...Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself observe and guard the law. ... " [ James and the elders to Paul]

Luke 5:33
Then [ the Pharisees and scribes] said to [ Jesus], "John's disciples, like the disciples of the Pharisees, frequently fast and pray, but your disciples eat and drink."

III. Meditation: Love for adulterers

To a holy place we lift up our hands
and bless you.
We bless you, for you love us and grieve
our turning away.
We lust for the raisin cakes of good opinions,
not your good opinion.
What people think of us is central to us;
what you think, peripheral.
How can you persist in loving adulterers
such as we?

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