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.

More Like a Horse or Mule--March 19, 2017


Sometimes I have been a hard man to restrain,
more like a horse or mule that must be led,
without understanding, whose temper
must be curbed.  Remembering,
I blush with shame.
 
Forgive me, God,
for times I have been
dominated by my temper,
for it is almost never beneficial.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 84; 150; 42; 32
Jer. 6:9-15
1 Cor. 6:12-20
Mark 5:1-20

Selected Verses
Ps. 32:9
Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
          whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle,
          else it will not stay near you.

Jer. 6:15a
They acted shamefully, they committed abomination;
          yet they were not ashamed,
          they did not know how to blush. 

1 Cor. 6:12
"All things are lawful for me," but not all things are beneficial.  "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be dominated by anything. 

Mark 5:3
[A man with an unclean spirit] lived among the tombs; and no one could restrain him any more, even with a chain…

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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