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 14, 2008

I. Readings
Psalms 27, 102, 126
Genesis 39:1-23
1Corinthians 2:14-3:15
Mark 2:1-12

II. Selections
Psalm 126:5
May those who sow in tears
reap with shouts of joy.

Genesis 39:23
The chief jailer paid no heed to anything that was in Joseph's care, because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made it prosper.

1Corinthians 3:7
So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

Mark 2:5
When Jesus saw [ the faith of the ones who carried the paralyzed man], he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."

III. Meditation: But some do not prosper

Sometimes you make those who sow in tears
reap with shouts of joy. When this happens,
credit is due neither to the one who plants,
nor to the one who waters-but to you.

Even in prison, whatever Joseph did, you
made it prosper. But some who are loyal to
you do not prosper-it is tough to accept that.
Give us faith like those who carried the paralytic.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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