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.

Fouled with Our Feet--May 22, 2015


Creator God, you have given us a beautiful world,
and the heavens should be glad, the earth should rejoice,
the sea should roar, and the field exult over its goodness.

We have built beautiful sanctuaries in which to worship you,
which is commendable, but nothing can compare with
the beauty of your sky and sea, earth and field.

Yet in our worried and distracted lives
we fail to rejoice in the beauty we have received--
worse, in selfish thoughtlessness we destroy the fullness
of the sea and the richness of the soil, fouling air and stream
without regard for future generations.  God have mercy,
Christ have mercy.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 96; 148; 49; 138
Ezek. 34:17-31
Heb. 8:1-13
Luke 10:38-42

Selected Verses
Ps. 96:11-12a
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
        let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
        let the field exult, and everything in it. 

Ezek. 34:18-19
Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, but you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture?  When you drink of clear water, must you foul the rest with your feet?  And must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet, and drink what you have fouled with your feet?  [The LORD, judging his flock]

Heb. 8:5a
[Earthly priests] offer worship in a sanctuary that is a sketch and shadow of the heavenly one…

Luke 10:41
But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things…"

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