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 24, 2006

I. Readings
Psalms 97, 115, 124
Exodus 14:21-31
1 Peter 1:1-12
John 14:1-18

II. Selections
Psalm 115:16
The heavens are the LORD's heavens,
but the earth he has given to human beings.

Exodus 14:21
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land; and the waters were divided.

1 Peter 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead ...

John 14:11
Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves.

III. Meditation: A dividing line that does not divide
The heavens are your heavens,
but the earth you have given to human beings.
Fortunately, you help us here on earth, though.
You drove back the sea for Moses, dividing the waters.

And you gave us Jesus,
whose good works showed
that he was in you
and you were in him.

And by your great mercy,
through his resurrection from the dead
you have given us a new birth
into a living hope.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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