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.

Until the Morning Star Rises in Our Hearts--Dec. 13, 2016

The men blindfolded you; they mocked, beat, and struck you, 
Jesus, but it was they, not you, who could not see.
They were in a land of deep darkness, and you were a lamp
shining in their darkness, but they did not see you.

We live in a world of deep darkness, a world in which
the wicked band together against the righteous
and condemn the innocent to death.
Give us eyes to see your lamp
shining in our darkness.

Lord Jesus, make us faithful
until the day dawns
and the morning star rises
in our hearts.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 33; 146; 85; 94
Isa. 9:2-7
2 Peter 1:12-21
Luke 22:54-69

Selected Verses
Ps. 94:20-21
Can wicked rulers be allied with you,
          those who contrive mischief by statute?
They band together against the life of the righteous,
          and condemn the innocent to death.

Isa. 9:2
The people who walked in darkness 
     have seen a great light; 
those who lived in a land of deep darkness — 
     on them light has shined. 

2 Peter 1:19b
You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 

Luke 22:63-64
Now the men who were holding Jesus began to mock him and beat him; they also blindfolded him and kept asking him, "Prophesy!  Who is it that struck you?"

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