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.

Only Breath in Our Nostrils?--Dec. 6, 2012


God, we pour out our heart before you;
you are our refuge, we trust in you.
What are we mortals, who have
 only breath in our nostrils?
Yet to you all are alive,
and you have created us
to love one another--make us
increase and abound in love for all,
just as you abound in love for us, O God.

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 18:1-20; 147:12-20; 126; 62

Isa. 2:5-22
1 Thess. 3:1-13
Luke 20:27-40

Selected Verses

Ps. 62:8

Trust in him at all times, O people;
          pour out your heart before him;
          God is a refuge for us.                  Selah

Isa. 2:22
Turn away from mortals,
            who have only breath in their nostrils,
            for of what account are they?

1 Thess. 3:12
And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you.

Luke 20:38
"…Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive."  [Jesus to the Sadducees, who questioned him about the resurrection]

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