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.

Our Complacency and Indifference--Nov. 5, 2012


 Dear God, you are good to all.
Forgive us when we are complacent
about your attitude toward good and evil,
and when we are indifferent about what is right,
for your compassion is over all that you have made.

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 5; 145; 82; 29

Zeph. 1:7-13
Rev. 14:1-13
Luke 12:49-59

Selected Verses

Ps. 145:9

The LORD is good to all,
          and his compassion is over all that he has made.

Zeph. 1:12
At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
            and I will punish the people
who rest complacently on their dregs,
            those who say in their hearts,
"The Lord will not do good,
            nor will he do harm."

Rev. 14:13
And I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who from now on die in the Lord."  "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them."

Luke 12:57
"…And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?  …"  [Jesus to the crowds]
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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