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.

To Lighten the Burden of Your Words--Dec. 10, 2013


 You spoke to the prophets, O God;
they heard behind them a loud voice like a trumpet;
and the people were not able to bear all your words.

Yet the burden will not seem so heavy
if only we love you with all our heart, and with all
our soul, and with all our mind, and our neighbors

as ourselves.  Our hearts are glad in
you because we trust in your holy name.  Let your
steadfast love be upon us, even as we hope in you.

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 33; 146; 85; 94
Amos 7:10-17
Rev. 1:9-16
Matt. 22:34-46

Selected Verses

Ps. 33:21-22
Our heart is glad in him,
          because we trust in his holy name.
Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us,
          even as we hope in you.

Amos 7:10
Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying, "Amos has conspired against you in the very center of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words.  …"

Rev. 1:10
I was in the spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet…

Matt. 22:37
[Jesus] said to [the lawyer], "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.'  …"

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