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.

October 15, 2007

I. Readings
Psalms 97, 112, 135
Jeremiah 36:11-26
1 Corinthians 13:1-13
Matthew 10:5-15

II. Selections
Psalm 112:4
They rise in the darkness as a light for the upright;
they are gracious, merciful, and righteous.

Jeremiah 36:17-19
Then [ the officials of the king] questioned Baruch, "Tell us now, how did you write all these words? Was it at [ Jeremiah's] dictation?" Baruch answered them, "He dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink on the scroll." Then the officials said to Baruch, "Go and hide, you and Jeremiah, and let no one know where you are."

1 Corinthians 13:12b
Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.

Matthew 10:7
" ...As you go, proclaim the good news, 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' ... " [ Jesus, instructing the twelve before sending them out]

III. Meditation: Forced into hiding

It is true, now we know only in part;
but there is much more we could know,
if only we would listen to the good news
that your kingdom has come near. Instead,
we ignore, force into hiding ones who rise
in the darkness as a light for the upright,
the gracious, merciful, and righteous.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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