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.

Your Breath within Us--Sept. 5, 2016


Almighty God, it is your breath within us,
your Spirit that makes for understanding.
Without you, I have no understanding;
I walk around in darkness, all
my foundations shaken.
Is this why your church
is sometimes so divided--
why we shake the dust off our
feet and walk away from each other?
Could it be because within us
we do not have your
 breath, your
Spirit?

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 5; 145; 82; 29
Job 32:1-10, 32:19-33:1, 33:19-28
Acts 13:44-52
John 10:19-30
           
Selected Verses
Ps. 82:5
They have neither knowledge nor understanding,
            they walk around in darkness;
            all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

Job 32:8
"…But truly it is the spirit in a mortal, the breath of the Almighty, that makes for understanding.  …"  [Elihu to Job]

Acts 13:51
So [Paul and Barnabas] shook the dust off their feet in protest against [those who drove them away], and went to Iconium. 

John 10:19
Again the Jews were divided because of [Jesus'] words.
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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