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.


In Our Darkness, Destruction--Aug. 21, 2011


Lord Jesus, you are the light of the world.
Nevertheless, we walk in darkness
and innocents are destroyed.
What have they done?

Lord, may your way be known upon earth,
your saving power among all nations,
that in you we all may be one.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 67; 150; 46; 93
2 Sam. 24:1-2, 10-25
Gal. 3:23-4:7
John 8:12-20

Selected Verses
Ps. 67:2
…that your way may be known upon earth,
      your saving power among all nations.

2 Sam. 24:17
When David saw the angel who was destroying the people, he said to the LORD, "I alone have sinned, and I alone have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let your hand, I pray, be against me and against my father’s house."

Gal. 3:28
There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

John 8:12
Again Jesus spoke to [the Pharisees], saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life."




Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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