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.

In Genuine Mutual Love--Nov. 24, 2015


You are a God of goodness--
in a day of trouble, a stronghold
for all those who take refuge in you--
even in a raging flood, you protect them.
They feast on the abundance of your house
and drink from the river of your delights.

God, grant that like little children we 
may come to you. Purify our souls
through obedience to your truth,
so that in genuine mutual love
we will love one another  
deeply from the heart.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 12; 146; 36; 7
Nahum 1:1-13
1 Peter 1:13-25
Matt. 19:13-22

Selected Verses
Ps. 36:8
[All who take refuge under your wings] feast on the abundance of your house,
          and you give them drink from the river of your delights. 

Nahum 1:7-8a
The LORD is good,
            a stronghold in a day of trouble;
he protects those who take refuge in him,
            even in a rushing flood. 

1 Peter 1:22
Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart. 

Matt. 19:14
…but Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs."

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