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.

Expressing Our Anger--Sept. 30, 2010


I. Readings
Psalms 116, 147:12-20, 26, 130
Hosea 4:1-10
Acts 21:27-36
Luke 6:1-11

II. Selections
Psalm 130:7
O Israel, hope in the LORD!
      For with the LORD there is steadfast love,
      and with him is great power to redeem.

Hosea 4:10-11a
They shall eat, but not be satisfied;
      they shall play the whore, but not multiply;
because they have forsaken the LORD
      to devote themselves to whoredom.

Acts 21:34
Some in the crowd shouted one thing, some another; and as [the tribune] could not learn the facts because of the uproar, he ordered [Paul] to be brought into the barracks.

Luke 6:7
The scribes and the Pharisees watched him to see whether he would cure on the sabbath, so that they might find an accusation against him.

III. Meditation

Some of us shout one thing
and some another—
we are more interested
in expressing our anger
than in listening for truth.

We are more immersed in accusing
the righteous than in being cured.
We eat, but are not satisfied;
play the whore, but do not multiply;
we have forsaken you.

What hope is there for us
unless we turn from our ways
and put our hope in you?
In your steadfast love
and power, redeem us.
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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