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.

September 03, 2008

I. Readings
Psalms 96, 132, 134
Job 12:1; 14:1-22
Acts 12:18-25
John 8:47-59

II. Selections
Psalm 96:2
Sing to the LORD, bless his name;
tell of his salvation from day to day.

Job 14:11-12a
As waters fail from a lake,
and a river wastes away and dries up,
so mortals lie down and do not rise again ...

Acts 12:22
The people [ of Tyre and Sidon] kept shouting [ in response to Herod's speech], "The voice of a god, and not of a mortal!"

John 8:51
" ...Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death." [ Jesus to the Jews]

III. Meditation: Mortals and mortality

We may ascribe god-like attributes to others,
or even claim them for ourselves; but as waters
fail from a lake, as a river wastes away and dries up,
so mortals lie down and do not rise again.

Or is that pessimistic? Jesus promised
that whoever keeps his word will never
see death. Sing to the Lord, bless his name;
tell of his salvation from day to day.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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