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.

May 17, 2006

I. Readings
Psalms 9, 99, 118
Leviticus 19:1-18
1 Thessalonians 5:12-28
Matthew 6:19-24

II. Selections
Psalm 9:3
When my enemies turned back,
they stumbled and perished before you.

Leviticus 19:18
You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.

1 Thessalonians 5:15-16
See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all. Rejoice always ...

Matthew 6:19
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal ..."

III. Meditation: Turn back my enemies
Turn back my enemies when they appear
(for they appear often),
make them stumble and perish before you.

Turn back my desire to take vengeance
and repay evil for evil;
my grudge-bearing.

Perish my avarice,
my attachment to treasures on earth,
my pessimism.

Lift up love of neighbor,
doing good for others,
joyful generosity.

For you are the LORD my God.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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