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 Be Like the Canaanite Mother--Oct. 14, 2018


Jesus, you are the Holy One in our midst;
you showed us how to bless when reviled,
to endure when persecuted, to speak kindly
when slandered; but I am a very slow learner.

Dear Lord, the Canaanite mother came to you;
she knelt before you and asked you for help.
Why should I be reluctant to do as she did?
In distress I am calling you; rescue me.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 19; 150; 81; 113
Hosea 11:1-11
1 Cor. 4:9-16
Matt. 15:21-28

Selected Verses
Ps. 81:7 
In distress you called, and I rescued you;
          I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
          I tested you at the waters of Meribah.  Selah 

Hosea 11:9
I will not execute my fierce anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and no mortal, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.

1 Cor. 4:12b-13a
When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we speak kindly. 

Matt. 15:25
But [the Canaanite mother] came and knelt before [Jesus], saying, "Lord, help me."

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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