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.

Can We Long Delay in Helping?--June 8, 2017


God of justice, many cry to you, day and night.
They are hungry, they lack clean water--
they die of starvation and cholera. 

I have received such a bounty from you;
is it not a gross distortion of justice,
 if I do not share my abundance
to relieve their need?

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 143; 147:12-20; 81; 116
Deut. 16:18-20, 17:14-20
2 Cor. 8:1-16
Luke 18:1-8

Selected Verses
Ps. 116:12
What shall I return to the LORD
          for all his bounty to me? 

Deut. 16:19
You must not distort justice; you must not show partiality; and you must not accept bribes, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.

2 Cor. 8:13b-14
…but it is a question of a fair balance between your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance. 

Luke 18:7
"…And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night?  Will he delay long in helping them?  … " [Jesus to his disciples]

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