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.

December 18, 2005

I. Readings
Psalms 24, 25, 110
Genesis 3:8-15
Revelation 12:1-10
John 3:16-21

II. Selections
Psalm 25:5
Lead me in your truth, and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all day long.

Genesis 3:8
They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

Revelation 12:7
And war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back.

John 3:19
And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.

III. Meditation: And war broke out in heaven
God of our salvation, you know it is not only in heaven that your angels battle against the evil ones. The battle rages also within our hearts. We hide from you among the trees of the garden because of the evil we have committed; by trying to hide from you, you are hidden from us, and we do fresh evil. Our evil deeds cause us to love darkness rather than light; and in the darkness we cannot find our way back to you. Penetrate our darkness with your light, expose our hiding place, lead us in your truth, and teach us, for you are the God of our salvation.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)