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.

The Conspicuous and the Hidden--Feb. 17, 2017


You search us, O God, and know our hearts;
you test us, and know our thoughts,
and you know well how far we
are from your kingdom.

Forgive our sins,
the conspicuous ones
and the hidden ones, too.

As for good works we have done,
may the conspicuous not
make us proud,
and may we not be too
eager to reveal the hidden--
but may our focus be on you
and the new things you
will bring to pass.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 130; 148; 32; 139
Isa. 65:17-25
1 Tim. 5:1-25
Mark 12:28-34

Selected Verses
Ps. 139:23-24
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
          test me and know my thoughts.
See if there is any wicked way in me,
          and lead me in the way everlasting.

Isa. 65:17
For I am about to create new heavens
          and a new earth;
the former things shall not be remembered
          or come to mind. 

1 Tim. 5:24-25
The sins of some people are conspicuous and precede them to judgment, while the sins of others follow them there.  So also good works are conspicuous; and even when they are not, they cannot remain hidden.

Mark 12:34a
When Jesus saw that [the scribe] answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

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