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.

You Have Told Us What Is Good--Oct. 21, 2016

[From Oct. 24, 2014 archive]

We are worried, distracted by many things;
some take pride in our armed forces,
and some in our atomic weapons;
some in technology, others in
our gross national product.

Make us repent, Lord,
for you have told us what
is good and what you require--
to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with you, our God.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 88; 148; 6; 20
Micah 6:1-8
Rev. 9:13-21
Luke 10:38-42

Selected Verses
Ps. 20:7
Some take pride in chariots, and some in horses,
          but our pride is in the name of the LORD our God. 

Micah 6:8
He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
     and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
     and to walk humbly with your God?

Rev. 9:20
The rest of humankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands or give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk.

Luke 10:41
But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things…"

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