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.

As Free People--Nov. 26, 2015

[From Nov. 24, 2011 archive]

We belong to you; do with us what you choose.
We are your servants; therefore we live as free people;
forbid that we should use our freedom as a pretext for evil.

With your steadfast love before our eyes,
O God, we will pasture and lie down;
and no one will make us afraid.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 116; 147:12-20; 26; 130
Zeph. 3:1-13
1 Peter 2:11-25
Matt. 20:1-16

Selected Verses
Ps. 26:3
 For your steadfast love is before my eyes,
          and I walk in faithfulness to you.

Zeph. 3:13d
Then [the remnant of Israel] will pasture and lie down,
          and no one shall make them afraid.

1 Peter 2:16
As servants of God, live as free people, yet do not use your freedom as a pretext for evil.

Matt. 20:15
"'…Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?  Or are you envious because I am generous?’  …"  [The landowner speaks to his laborers in a parable Jesus told his disciples]
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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