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 with Us, We with You--Oct. 23, 2016

[From Oct. 28, 2012 archive]

When alone in the darkest valley,
you are with us.

When we gather as two or three,
you are among us.

When we flee from you to Tarshish,
you do not leave us.

And when we partake of the one bread,
we are with you, one body.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 108; 150; 66; 23
Jonah 1:1-17a
1 Cor. 10:15-24
Matt. 18:15-20

Selected Verses
Ps. 23:4
Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
          I fear no evil;
for you are with me;
          your rod and your staff —
          they comfort me.

Jonah 1:3
But Jonah set out to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.  He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid his fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.

1 Cor. 10:17
Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.

Matt. 18:20
"…For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them."  [Jesus to his disciples]

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