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.

August 10, 2008

I. Readings
Psalms 103, 117, 139
Judges 11:1-11, 29-40
2 Corinthians 11:21b-31
Mark 4:35-41

II. Selections
Psalm 103:6
The LORD works vindication
and justice for all who are oppressed.

Judges 11:2
Gilead's wife also bore him sons; and when his wife's sons grew up, they drove Jephthah away, saying to him, "You shall not inherit anything in our father's house; for you are the son of another woman."

2 Corinthians 11:29
Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I am not indignant?

Mark 4:41
And [ his disciples] were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"

III. Meditation: Justice for all? ;

There are many who are weak,
many who lose what is due them,
and many who are made to stumble.

If even the wind and sea obey you,
will you not vindicate the oppressed? ;

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)