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.

November 29, 2008

I. Readings
Psalms 63, 90, 125
Zechariah 14:12-21
Philippians 2:1-11
Luke 19:41-48

II. Selections
Psalm 63:8
My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.

Zechariah 14:20a
On that day there shall be inscribed on the bells of the horses, "Holy to the LORD."

Philippians 2:4
Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.

Luke 19:41-42
As [ Jesus] came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, "If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. ... "

III. Meditation: The things that make for peace

We know that we have looked to our own interests, not to the interests of others. Make us recognize the things that make for peace; let these things not be hidden from our eyes. Grant that we may see the world with everything in it inscribed, "Holy to the Lord"; and uphold us, for our soul clings to you.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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