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 29, 2007

I. Readings
Psalms 63, 100, 122
2 Kings 11:1-20a
1 Corinthians 7:10-24
Matthew 6:19-24

II. Selections
Psalms 122:8
For the sake of my relatives and friends,
I will say, "Peace be with you."

2 Kings 11:1
Now when Athaliah, Ahaziah's mother, saw that her son was dead, she set about to destroy all the royal family.

1 Corinthians 7:15b
It is to peace that God has called you.

Matthew 6:23
" ...but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! ... " [ Jesus, sitting on the mountain]

III. Meditation: It is to peace

It is to peace that you have called us.
As the psalmist, who for the sake of
those he loved, prayed for peace,
so we pray.

But there are some whose eyes are unhealthy,
and their entire bodies are full of darkness.
They are bent on power, and to secure it
they will kill and destroy.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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