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 Pray when We Suffer--Aug. 23, 2014


God, our Maker and our King,
when we fear suffering, or experience it,
we are wont to complain about you, even cursing
the day we were born.  Teach us that you suffer with us,
that your heart is breaking when our hearts break.
Teach us to know the strength of your love,
so we may rejoice and be glad in you
even when suffering comes.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 56; 149; 118; 111
Job 3:1-26
Acts 9:10-19a
John 6:41-51

Selected Verses
Ps. 149:2
Let Israel be glad in its Maker;
          let the children of Zion rejoice in their King. 

Job 3:7
"…Yes, let that night be barren; let no joyful cry be heard in it.  …" [Job cursing the day he was born]

Acts 9:115-16
But the Lord said to [Ananias in a vision], "Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name."

John 6:41
Then the Jews began to complain about [Jesus] because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven."
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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