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.

June 13, 2008

I. Readings
Psalms 25, 40, 84
Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:14
Galatians 5:25-6:10
Matthew 16:21-28

II. Selections
Psalm 25:1
To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.

Ecclesiastes 12:7
...and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the breath returns to God who gave it.

Galatians 6:7
Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow.

Matthew 16:21
From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.


III. Meditation: Ere our dust returns

Ere our dust returns to the earth as it was,
and our breath returns to you who gave it,
there is a lesson we must learn:

We have reaped what Jesus has sown,
and he has undergone great suffering
so that we may lift up our soul to you.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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