O you whose eye penetrates the darkness and the darkest hearts,
look upon those who victimize children as part of the sex trade.
Comfort and heal the helpless innocents—who before you are pure
and undefiled—and show us how to care for them in their distress.
Motivate us to wipe out this evil; make us shrewd to deal with it;
and forgive our unconcern, our failure to defend the many victims.
Lectionary Readings
Psalms 130, 148, 32, 139
Joel 2:28-3:8
James 1:16-27
Luke 16:1-9
Selected verses
Psalm 139:11-12
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light around me become night,
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is as bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.
Joel 3:2c-3
[The nations] have divided my land, and cast lots for my people, and traded boys for prostitutes, and sold girls for wine, and drunk it down.
James 1:27
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
Luke 16:8
“…And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. … ” [Jesus to his disciples]
Meditations inspired by readings from the Daily Lectionary as found in the Mission Yearbook of the Presbyterian Church (USA)
- Elmer E. Ewing
- 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.
"Elijah" - A bronze sculpture by a friend, the late Reverend Gurdon Brewster. Click on the image to see more of his sculptures.
Archives
Samples from the archives
- 3/19/18 Remedy for Hubris--A Child Could Do It
- 2/25/14 Unbind me, Jesus
- 10/26/13 Refreshing hearts, in Christ
- 8/9/13 When things I do displease you, God
- 2/7/13 Freed, saved, gathered in
- 1/1/13 For a joy that is complete
- 11/20/12 Though the fig tree does not blossom
- 11/19/12 Alas, my house is set on high
- 10/14/12 Held in your arms
- 9/14/12 The land cries out against us
- 8/29/12 The snare of false accusation
- 8/5/12 Tie up the strong man
- 4/5/12 We who dip bread
- 9/23/10 The right to be joyful
- 9/18/10 Chief cornerstone
- 7/27/10 Triumph over enemies
- 10/9/08 Our iniquity is great
- 5/14/08 When at night
- 2/17/08 The thin and ugly
- 1/17/07 We do not know you
- 1/3/07 Promises
- 1/2/07 For things not seen
- 10/3/06 Fear of you
- 10/2/06 Little we know
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