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.

To Stand on Holy Ground--May 23, 2015

[From May 30, 2009 archive]

Where do you dwell, God?  Where is the holy place?
You brought Israel out of Egypt and gave them holy land.
Especially holy was the top of the hill surrounding the temple,
and the temple held, behind its second curtain, the Holy of Holies.
Jesus showed us that all life can be holy; everywhere he was,
your kingdom was present.  Wherever we may be, teach us
to stand as if on sacred ground, in your very presence.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 92; 149; 23; 114
Ezek. 43:1-12
Heb. 9:1-14
Luke 11:14-23

Selected Verses
Ps. 114:1-2
When Israel went out from Egypt,
          the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,   
Judah became God’s sanctuary,
          Israel his dominion.

Ezek. 43:12
This is the law of the temple: the whole territory on the top of the mountain all around shall be most holy.  This is the law of the temple.

Heb. 9:3
Behind the second curtain was a tent called the Holy of Holies. 

Luke 11:20
"…But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you.  …"  [Jesus to the crowd]
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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