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.

Two Disparate Images of God--Feb. 13, 2017


I confess, O God--the image of you
trampling down peoples in anger,
crushing them flat in your wrath
till your robes were bloody red,
is to me out of joint with that
of Jesus peacefully entering
Jerusalem on a donkey colt
to loud cheers of Hosanna.

Forgive me, I cannot
hold the two together.
I know you as gracious
and merciful, slow to anger
and abounding in steadfast love,
the God of grace, mercy, and peace,
 and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 135; 145; 97; 112
Isa. 63:1-6
1 Tim. 1:1-17
Mark 11:1-11

Selected Verses
Ps. 145:8
The LORD is gracious and merciful,
          slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 

Isa. 63:6
I trampled down peoples in my anger,
          I crushed them in my wrath,
          and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”

1 Tim. 1:1
To Timothy, my loyal child in the faith:
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Mark 11:9
Then those who went ahead [of Jesus riding the colt to Jerusalem] and those who followed were shouting,
     “Hosanna!
          Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!  …"

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