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.

Bear One Another's Burdens--Feb. 4, 2017


There is a burden we have to bear, Lord Jesus,
and it is for the innocent victims of war--
victims too hungry, too weak to bear a burden.
Guide us by your Holy Spirit to fulfill
your law of love and compassion for all peoples.
We confess that we do not know how to
help them, and so we pray; protect them, have pity
on them, Jesus; surround them with your
loving care, as the mountains surround Jerusalem.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 63; 149; 125; 90
Isa. 56:1-8
Gal. 5:25-6:10
Mark 9:14-29

Selected Verses
Ps. 125:2
As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
          so the LORD surrounds his people,
          from this time on and forevermore. 

Isa. 56:7c
 …for my house shall be called a house of prayer
          for all peoples. 

Gal. 5:25, 6:2
If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.  …Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 

Mark 9:22
"…[The spirit] has often cast [my son] into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.”  [The father of the boy to Jesus]

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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