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.

How Generous God, How Miserly We--May 31, 2016


God, you keep faith forever,
executing justice for the oppressed,
giving food to the hungry.
You expect us to remember the poor.

But our concerns differ from yours--
we judge by a person's family;
we worry our wealth may fall into
the hands of one undeserving.

How generous you are;
how miserly we.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 54; 146; 28; 99
Eccl. 2:16-26
Gal. 1:18-2:10
Matt. 13:53-58
       
Selected Verses
Ps. 146:6c-7b
[God]…who keeps faith forever; 
            who executes justice for the oppressed;
            who gives food to the hungry.

Eccl. 2:21
…because sometimes one who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by another who did not toil for it.  This also is vanity and a great evil. 

Gal. 2:10
[James, Cephas, and John] asked only one thing, that we remember the poor, which was actually what I was eager to do.

Matt. 13:54-55a
[Jesus] came to his hometown and began to teach the people in their synagogue, so that they were astounded and said, "Where did this man get this wisdom and these deeds of power?  Is not this the carpenter's son?  …"

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