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.

October 13, 2008

I. Readings
Psalms 97, 112, 135
Hosea 11:12-12:1
Acts 26:1-23
Luke 8:26-39

II. Selections
Psalm 135:3
Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good;
sing to his name, for he is gracious.

Hosea 12:1
Ephraim herds the wind,
and pursues the east wind all day long;
they multiply falsehood and violence;
they make a treaty with Assyria,
and oil is carried to Egypt.

Acts 26:16
" ' ...But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and testify to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you. ... ' " [ Saul's account to Agrippa of what Jesus told him in a vision]

Luke 8:38-39a
The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, "Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you."

III. Meditation: We herd the wind

We praise you, for you are good;
we sing to your name, for you are gracious.

In contrast to you, we herd the wind-
we pursue the empty and meaningless.

Pick us up; stand us on our feet,
that we may testify to the things
in which we have seen you,
and that we may declare how
much you have done for us.

No comments:

Post a Comment