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.

October 20, 2005

I. Readings
Psalms 81, 116, 143
Jeremiah 42:1-22
1 Corinthians 16:1-9
Matthew 12:15-21

II. Selections
Psalm 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

Jeremiah 42:15b-16
Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: If you are determined to enter Egypt and go to settle there, then the sword that you fear shall overtake you there, in the land of Egypt; and the famine that you dread shall follow close after you into Egypt; and there you shall die.

1 Corinthians 16:8-9
But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

Matthew 12:18
"Here is my servant, whom I have chosen,
my beloved, with whom my soul is well pleased.
I will put my Spirit upon him,
and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. ..."

III. Meditation: Overtaken by what we flee from
What in fear we try to avoid may be the very thing we encounter when contrary to your will we flee. We want to control our future, but it lies in your hands, not in ours. Put your Spirit within us, and lead us to work for justice. Show us the doors that you will open for us, if we but wait and watch. Then grant us courage to walk through them, even if surrounded by adversaries. Remind us how you have rescued your people from past distress and answered them in time of testing.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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