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.

February 05, 2008

I. Readings
Psalms 42, 102, 133
Proverbs 30:1-4, 24-33
Philippians 3:1-11
John 18:28-38

II. Selections
Psalm 133:3
[ When kindred live together in unity ...]
It is like the dew of Hermon,
which falls on the mountains of Zion.

Proverbs 30:33
For as pressing milk produces curds,
and pressing the nose produces blood,
so pressing anger produces strife.

Philippians 3:7
Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ.

John 18:35
Pilate replied [ to Jesus], "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?"

III. Meditation: Dew on the mountain

We are quick to blame others,
saying "What have you done?"
We press our cause in anger,
even though it leads to strife.

Better by far to count all our
gains as loss because of Christ,
and then enjoy the coolness
of dew falling on the mountain.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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