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.

September 08, 2006

I. Readings
Psalms 25, 40, 84
Job 19:1-7, 14-27
Acts 13:13-25
John 9:18-41

II. Selections
Psalm 84:3
Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O LORD of hosts,
my King and my God.

Job 19:14-15a
" ...My relatives and my close friends have failed me;
the guests in my house have forgotten me ... " [ Job]

Acts 13:25
" ...And as John was finishing his work, he said, 'What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but one is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of the sandals on his feet.' ... "

John 9:35
Jesus heard that [ the Pharisees] had driven [ the man Jesus cured of blindness] out, and when he found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"

III. Meditation: The sparrow, the swallow, the one driven out

Even though we are not worthy
to untie your sandal thongs,
even if we feel abandoned
by relatives and friends,
do not forsake us.

You make space for the sparrow's home,
find room for the swallow's nest;
you search out the rejected
and the one driven away;
do not forsake us!

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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