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.

January 30, 2007

I. Readings
Psalms 7, 12, 36
Isaiah 52:1-12
Galatians 4:12-20
Mark 8:1-10

II. Selections
Psalm 36:4
[ The wicked] plot mischief while on their beds;
they are set on a way that is not good;
they do not reject evil.

Isaiah 52:12
For you shall not go out in haste,
and you shall not go in flight;
for the LORD will go before you,
and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

Galatians 4:12
Friends, I beg you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You have done me no wrong.

Mark 8:2
"I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. ... " [ Jesus to his disciples]

III. Meditation: Neither in haste nor in flight

God of Israel, set us on a way that is good,
a way that rejects mischief and evil plots.

There is no need to run, or run away, as we go,
if you will go before us and be our rear guard.

Fill us with compassion for all who are hungry
and with empathy for those estranged from us.

Help us become as they are,
for you became as we were.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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