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.

August 19, 2006

I. Readings
Psalms 98, 104, 138
Judges 16:1-14
Acts 7:30-43
John 5:1-18

II. Selections
Psalm 104:12
By the streams the birds of the air have their habitation;
they sing among the branches.

Judges 16:7
Samson said to [ Delilah], "If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that are not dried out, then I shall become weak, and be like anyone else."

Acts 7:30-43
" ...Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush. ... " [ Stephen, preaching to the Council]

John 5:13
Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was [ who had healed him], for Jesus had disappeared in the crowd that was there.

III. Meditation: Revelation

How do we find you?

In birdsongs emanating from branches beside a forest stream?
In the secret strength bestowed upon an unusual person?
In an inexplicable flame ablaze in a wilderness bush?
In an unexpected healing by a person unknown?

How do you find us?

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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