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.

April 06, 2006

I. Readings
Psalms 27, 102, 126
Exodus 7:25-8:19
2 Corinthians 3:7-18
Mark 10:17-31

II. Selections
Psalm 126:3
The LORD has done great things for us,
and we rejoiced.

Exodus 7:15
But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart, and would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said.

2 Corinthians 3:9
For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, much more does the ministry of justification abound in glory!

Mark 10:17
As [ Jesus] was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

III. Meditation: How to abound in glory?
What must we do,
Good Teacher,
to inherit eternal life?
Which will abound in glory-
the ministry of condemnation
or the ministry of justification?

You do great things for us,
and we rejoice,
and then having seen
a respite from the plague,
we harden our hearts
and ignore your answer.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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