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.

April 25, 2007

I. Readings
Psalms 9, 99, 118
Daniel 5:1-12
1 John 5:1-12
Luke 4:38-44

II. Selections
Psalm 118:12
[ All nations] surrounded me like bees;
they blazed like a fire of thorns;
in the name of the LORD I cut them off!

Daniel 5:1-2
King Belshazzar made a great festival for a thousand of his lords, and he was drinking wine in the presence of the thousand. Under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar commanded that they bring in the vessels of gold and silver that his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them.

1 John 5:3
For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome ...

Luke 4:42
At daybreak [ Jesus] departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowds were looking for him; and when they reached him, they wanted to prevent him from leaving them.

III. Meditation: Near or cut off

Jesus left the crowds for a deserted place;
they went looking until they found him,
then tried to keep him.

When troubles surround us like bees,
when they blaze like a fire of thorns,
we turn toward you.

When we wield power and authority,
when we exult in our own splendor,
we turn from you.

When we forget your commandments,
when we find them to be a burden,
we fail to love you.

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