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.

June 08, 2006

I. Readings
Psalms 81, 116, 143
Ecclesiastes 3:16-4:3
Galatians 3:1-14
Matthew 14:13-21

II. Selections
Psalms 81:3
Blow the trumpet at the new moon,
at the full moon, on our festal day.

Ecclesiastes 4:2-3
And I thought the dead, who have already died, more fortunate than the living, who are still alive; but better than both is the one who has not yet been, and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.

Galatians 3:13a
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us ...

Matthew 14:13a
Now when Jesus heard [ of John's execution], he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself.

III. Meditation: Grief and joy
Jesus was acquainted with grief,
but also knew how to be happy.

He became a curse for us, says Paul,
to redeem us from the curse of the law.

He gives us grounds to trumpet the moon,
not to live in despair, or yearn to die.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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