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.


The Line of Authority Bends--March 9, 2012



The wife has authority over the body of her husband,
and the husband over the body of his wife;
Judah was accountable to his father
for keeping Benjamin safe;
Jesus showed authority
over the wind and the sea;
you are sovereign over all creation.
With such a line of authority, how marvelous--
when the afflicted cry to you, you bend to hear their cry.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 22; 148; 105; 130
Gen. 43:1-15
1 Cor. 7:1-9
Mark 4:35-41

Selected Verses
Ps. 22:24
For he did not despise or abhor
      the affliction of the afflicted;
he did not hide his face from me,
      but heard when I cried to him.

Gen. 43:9
"…I myself will be surety for [Benjamin]; you can hold me accountable for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever. …" [Judah to his father Jacob]

1 Cor. 7:4
For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.

Mark 4:41
And [Jesus' disciples] were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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