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.

Sharing Our Blessings--Jan. 2, 2013


 You remind our nation--we are only human.

We want to control the world through force,
but with you such thinking will not prevail.

The rich blessings you have bestowed on us
are to be shared, shared with the whole world.

Strengthen us to set out into the strange world
of peaceful living and just sharing of your gifts,
even if we do not know the way.

You have given us the bread of life.
You do not mean for us to keep it
for ourselves only; it is for
the life of the world.

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 48; 147:1-11; 9; 29

Gen. 12:1-7
Heb. 11:1-12
John 6:35-42, 48-51

Selected Verses

Ps. 9:19-20
Rise up, O LORD! Do not let mortals prevail;
          let the nations be judged before you.
Put them in fear, O LORD;
          let the nations know that they are only human.             Selah

Gen. 12:3
"…I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  [The LORD to Abram]

Heb. 11:8
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going.

John 6:51
"…I am the living bread that came down from heaven.  Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”  [Jesus to those who complained about him]

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