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.

Not a Single Hour of Life--May 13, 2015


There is no end of things to make us worry.
Two men in a forest chopping wood;
the head flies off one axe;
the other man dies.

But, Jesus, you said
worrying is a waste of time.
All we have to do is trust in God--
one who seeks God will not be forsaken,
for the prayer of the righteous is powerful
and effective.  And lest we worry
over our sins, teach us to
confess them and
pray for one
another.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 99; 147:1-11; 9; 118
Deut. 19:1-7
James 5:13-18
Luke 12:22-31

Selected Verses
Ps. 9:10
And those who know your name put their trust in you,
          for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.

Deut. 19:5
Suppose someone goes into the forest with another to cut wood, and when one of them swings the ax to cut down a tree, the head slips from the handle and strikes the other person who then dies; the killer may flee to one of these cities and live. 

James 5:16
Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.

Luke 12:25-26
"…And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?  If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest?  …"  [Jesus to his disciples]

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