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.

Love We Cannot Comprehend--July 16, 2017

[From July 15, 2007 archive]

You love with a tenacity
we cannot comprehend--
more than Jonathan loved David,
who was destined to supplant him;
even as Jesus loved Jerusalem,
which was poised to crucify him.

We do not need to ascend into heaven
to bring Christ down, for you are there;
nor need we descend into the abyss
to bring Christ up; you have been there.
Where you are Christ is;
where he is, love is.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 103; 150; 117; 139
1 Sam. 17:50-18:4
Rom. 10:4-17
Matt. 23:29-39

Selected Verses
Ps. 139:8
If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
            if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.

1 Sam. 18:3
Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul.

Rom. 10:6
But the righteousness that comes from faith says, "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven'" (that is, to bring Christ down) "or 'Who will descend into the abyss?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).

Matt. 23:37
"…Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it!  How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!  …"

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