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.


Your Will vs. My Way--May 24, 2002


O God, you are awesome in your deeds among mortals;
I am puffed up over my own trivial accomplishments.

You ask us to live in harmony with one another;
the cares and riches and pleasures of life choke my way.

You tell us not to be haughty, but to associate with the lowly;
I work for the good opinion of all whose qualifications I admire.

You see hope in the future and want us to invest in it;
my eye is on pitfalls and perils—all that may go wrong.


Lectionary Readings
Ps. 98; 146; 66; 116
Jer. 32:16-25
Rom. 12:1-21
Luke 8:1-15

Selected Verses
Ps. 66:5
Come and see what God has done:
      he is awesome in his deeds among mortals.

Jer. 32:25
Yet you, O Lord GOD, have said to me, “Buy the field for money and get witnesses”—though the city has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans.

Rom. 12:16
Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are.

Luke 8:14
“…As for what fell among the thorns, these are the ones who hear; but as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. …” [Jesus to his disciples]
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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