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.

November 05, 2006

I. Readings
Psalms 103, 117, 139
Zephaniah 1:1-6
1 Corinthians 12:27-13:13
Matthew 18:21-35

II. Selections
Psalm 139:7
Where can I go from your spirit?
Or where can I flee from your presence?

Zephaniah 1:2
I will utterly sweep away everything
from the face of the earth, says the LORD.

1 Corinthians 13:8
Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end.

Matthew 18:21-22
Then Peter came and said to [ Jesus], "Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?" Jesus said to him, "Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times."

III. Meditation: No escape

Neither in time nor in space can we escape you.
Help us recognize that as promise, not threat.
Though everything may come to an end,
though you sweep the earth clean,
yet will your love endure ...
and your forgiveness.
Teach us to love
and forgive.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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