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.

March 26, 2007

I. Readings
Psalms 6, 119:73-80, 121
Jeremiah 24:1-10
Romans 9:19-33
John 9:1-17

II. Selections
Psalm 121:1
I lift up my eyes to the hills-
from where will my help come? ;

Jeremiah 24:7
I will give [ the exiles from Judah] a heart to know that I am the LORD; and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.

Romans 9:20b
Will what is molded say to the one who molds it, "Why have you made me like this?"

John 9:17
So [ the Pharisees] said again to the blind man, "What do you say about [ Jesus]? It was your eyes he opened." He said, "He is a prophet."

III. Meditation: With our whole heart

You are the molder;
we have no right to ask you
why you have made us the way we are.

You have opened our eyes;
we know what to say about you;
and we know from where our help comes.

Give us a heart to know
that you will be our God, and that
we will return to you and be your people ...

with our whole heart.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)