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.

To Feast on the Abundance of Your House--Feb. 16, 2017


Generous God, everything you created is good,
and all may feast on the abundance of your house;
you give them drink from the river of your delights.

You are ready to be sought out, but we do not ask;
you call to us over and over, but we do not reply.
We do not give back what belongs to you--
the grateful acceptance of your gifts.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 36; 147:12-20; 80; 27
Isa. 65:1-12
1 Tim. 4:1-16
Mark 12:13-27

Selected Verses
Ps. 36:8
[All people may] feast on the abundance of your house,
          and you give them drink from the river of your delights. 

Isa. 65:1
 I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask,
          to be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, “Here I am, here I am,”
          to a nation that did not call on my name. 

1 Tim. 4:4
For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, provided it is received with thanksgiving…

Mark 12:17
Jesus said to [those who had tried to trap him], "Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s."  And they were utterly amazed at him.

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