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 24, 2005

I. Readings
Psalms 9, 62, 73
Jeremiah 45:1-5
Revelation 1:4-20
Matthew 12:43-50

II. Selections
Psalm 62:3
How long will you assail a person,
will you batter your victim, all of you,
as you would a leaning wall, a tottering fence?

Jeremiah 45:5
And you, do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for I am going to bring disaster upon all flesh, says the LORD; but I will give you your life as a prize of war in every place to which you may go."

Revelation 1:4-5a
John to the seven churches that are in Asia:
Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

Matthew 12:45
Then [ the evil spirit] goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there; and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So will it be also with this evil generation."

III. Meditation: A leaning wall, a tottering fence
O God, we come to you, for we are a leaning wall, a tottering fence. How long are we to be assailed and battered? Have we enjoyed a respite from the battering only to learn that our last state will be worse than the first? Ah, is it that we seek great things for ourselves? Do not seek them, we hear you say. After all, we are not the only ones stricken by disaster, and you have given us our lives. You have given us grace and peace, grace and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come-more than enough support, even for a leaning wall, a tottering fence.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)