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.

Neglecting the Gift That Is In Us--Feb. 17, 2011


We do not know the scriptures—
much less know your power.

Although you are ready to be sought out,
we seek not, nor call on your name.

Then we dare to put the blame on you,
complain you hide your face.

And thus we neglect the gift that is in us—
a crucial gift—your availability to us.


Lectionary Readings
Ps. 36; 147:12-20; 80; 27
Isa. 65:1-12
1 Tim. 4:1-16
Mark 12:13-27

Selected Verses
Ps. 27:8-9
“Come,” my heart says, “seek his face!”
      Your face, LORD, do I seek.
      Do not hide your face from me.

Isa. 65:1
I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask,
      to be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, “Here I am, here I am,”
      to a nation that did not call on my name.

1 Tim. 4:14
Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you through prophecy with the laying on of hands by the council of elders.

Mark 12:24
Jesus said to [the Sadducees], “Is not this the reason you are wrong, that you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God? …”
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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