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.


Jerusalem--Pray for Me, Too--Oct. 22, 2011



Jerusalem, I pray for your peace;
may peace be within your walls
and security within your towers.

I know well that you have had a troubled past;
but I do not accept that your tree is bad;
it is has borne much good fruit.

From the abundance of your hearts
let your mouths speak; share your faiths,
and may what you say be effective in good works.

We are children of Abraham, peoples of the Book;
May the Muslim pray for the security of the Jew;
may the Jew pray for the peace of the Muslim.

As a Christian I pray for the security and peace
of all you, my friends, Muslims and Jews.
Please pray for me, too, O Jerusalem.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 122
Ezra 4:7, 11-24
Philemon 1-25
Matt.12:33-42

Selected Verses
Ps. 122:6-7
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
      "May they prosper who love you.
Peace be within your walls,
      and security within your towers."

Ezra 4:19
"…So I made a decree, and someone searched and discovered that this city has risen against kings from long ago, and that rebellion and sedition have been made in it. …" [King Artaxerxes' letter of reply to those who had accused Jerusalem]

Philemon 6
I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective when you perceive all the good that we may do for Christ.

Matt.12:33, 34b
“Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. …For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. …" [Jesus to the Pharisees]
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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