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.

September 27, 2007

I. Readings
Psalms 81, 116, 143
2 Kings 9:1-16
1 Corinthians 6:12-20
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

II. Selections
Psalm 143:5
I remember the days of old,
I think about all your deeds,
I meditate on the works of your hands.

2 Kings 9:13
Then hurriedly [ the other army commanders] all took their cloaks and spread them for him on the bare steps; and they blew the trumpet, and proclaimed, "Jehu is king."

1 Corinthians 6:19
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own?

Matthew 6:1
" ...Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. ... " [ Jesus, sitting on the mountain]

III. Meditation: What to celebrate

It is good to remember the works of your hands,
to celebrate all the deeds that you have done.

And good to honor the achievements of others
(though homage to kings can be over-inflated).

It is even good to give thanks for our bodies,
for they are temples of your Holy Spirit.

But save us from displays of our own piety
put on to impress others with our virtues.

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