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.

Your Compassion for the Widow--Oct. 7, 2014


Lord Jesus, you had compassion for
the widow whose only son had died.

There are many widows today who
have lost all their children--disease,
hunger, war and conspiracies to kill.

Tears are their food--often their only
food--day and night, and continually
they ask, "Where are you, O God"?

Have you strayed from them, or is
it that the world strayed from you?

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 42; 146; 102; 133
Hosea 7:8-16
Acts 23:12-24
Luke 7:1-17

Selected Verses
Ps. 42:3
My tears have been my food
          day and night,
while people say to me continually,
          “Where is your God?”

Hosea 7:13a
Woe to them, for they have strayed from me! 

Acts 23:12
In the morning the Jews joined in a conspiracy and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. 

Luke 7:13
When the Lord saw [the widow whose only son had died], he had compassion for her and said to her, "Do not weep."

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