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.


News: Cleric Killed by Drones in Yemen--Oct. 2, 2011

Sometimes we pray for life, our own
or the life of one we love.

The church prayed for Peter,
imprisoned after the execution of James.

Hezekiah prayed for his own life.
Jesus prayed for the widow's son.

Is it also right to pray for death,
even the death of the bloodthirsty?

Shall we pray for the death of a terrorist?
If we want to kill him and his associates,

even if innocents are also victims,
are we bloodthirsty too?

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 103; 150; 117; 139
2 Kings 20:1-21
Acts 12:1-17
Luke 7:11-17

Selected Verses
Ps. 139:19
O that you would kill the wicked, O God,
      and that the bloodthirsty would depart from me…

2 Kings 20:4-5
Before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him: "Turn back, and say to Hezekiah prince of my people, Thus says the LORD, the God of your ancestor David: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; indeed, I will heal you; on the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD. …"

Acts 12:5
While Peter was kept in prison, the church prayed fervently to God for him.

Luke 7:12-13
As [Jesus] approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town. When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, “Do not weep.”
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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