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 21, 2006

I. Readings
Psalms 27, 36, 80
Job 28:1-28
Acts 16:25-40
John 12:27-36a

II. Selections
Psalm 80:14-15
Turn again, O God of hosts;
look down from heaven, and see;
have regard for this vine,
the stock that your right hand planted.

Job 28:13
" ...Mortals do not know the way to [ wisdom]
and it is not found in the land of the living. ... "

Acts 16:34
[ The jailer] brought [ Paul and Silas] up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.

John 12:36a
" ...While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light." [ Jesus to the crowd]

III. Meditation: The way to wisdom

Times change. You plant a vine (or a nation),
and it thrives; you turn away-
the planting shrivels.

People change-not always for the worse;
some become believers in you,
children of light.

Why the changes? We mortals do not know
the way to wisdom. It is not found
in the land of the living.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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