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.


How Great the Darkness--Sept. 24, 2011

When the light in us is darkness,
how great is the darkness!

So dark that out of consuming ambition
a woman sacrifices her own grandchildren;

so dark that with high praises for you in our throats,
we wield two-edged swords in our hands.

With a great price you have bought us;
you do not intend us to live in great darkness.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 122; 149; 100; 63
2 Kings 11:1-20a
1 Cor. 7:10-24
Matt. 6:19-24

Selected Verses
Ps. 149:6-7
Let the high praises of God be in their throats
      and two-edged swords in their hands,
to execute vengeance on the nations
      and punishment on the peoples…

2 Kings 11:1
Now when Athaliah, Ahaziah’s mother, saw that her son was dead, she set about to destroy all the royal family.

1 Cor. 7:23
You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of human masters.

Matt. 6:23
"…but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! …" [Jesus, sitting on the mountain]
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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