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.

February 11, 2007

I. Readings
Psalms 19, 81, 113
Isaiah 62:6-12
1 John 2:3-11
John 8:12-19

II. Selections
Psalm 113:4
The LORD is high above all nations,
and his glory above the heavens.

Isaiah 62:8
The LORD has sworn by his right hand,
and by his mighty arm:
I will not again give your grain
to be food for your enemies,
and foreigners shall not drink the wine
for which you have labored ...

1 John 2:10
Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light, and in such a person there is no cause for stumbling.

John 8:12
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life."

III. Meditation: The light of life

Your glory is above the heavens;
you are the light of the world.
To live in your light is to love
and never to walk in darkness.

You who are high above all nations
know that many suffer as slaves.
Their grain feeds their oppressors,
who drink the wine for which they labored.

Lift your mighty arm and right hand
to protect the poor and oppressed.
Or give us the strength to liberate,
if that is the way to walk in your light.

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