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.

Boundaries, Weeds, and Sin--Nov. 1, 2013


 You have established the bounds
of the sun and the moon--
all the celestial bodies
and earthly ones.
How catastrophic
it would be if the sky
were to vanish like a scroll
rolling itself up, or if mountains
and islands moved to other places!
God, we take comfort in boundaries--
walls, gates, property lines--all of these
make us secure.  Sad to say, weeds fail
to recognize borders or boundaries;
weeds are invasive, like sin.
Dear God, protect us;
save us from sin.

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 84; 148; 25; 40
Neh. 2:1-20
Rev. 6:12-7:4
Matt. 13:24-30

Selected Verses

Ps. 148:6
[The LORD] established [the celestial bodies] forever and ever;
          he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.

Neh. 2:13
I went out by night by the Valley Gate past the Dragon’s Spring and to the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that had been broken down and its gates that had been destroyed by fire.

Rev. 6:14
The sky vanished like a scroll rolling itself up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

Matt. 13:26
"…So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well.  …"  [Jesus to his disciples]

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