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.

Two Hard Questions--Aug. 20, 2015


Which is more like being fed with the bread of tears:
a false accusation against one who is innocent,
or a victory that turns into a grievous loss?

What could be more difficult than to love you, O God,
without at the same time loving our neighbor?

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 36; 147:12-20; 80; 27
2 Sam. 19:1-23
Acts 24:1-23
Mark 12:28-34

Selected Verses
Ps. 80:5
 You have fed [your people] with the bread of tears,
          and given them tears to drink in full measure. 

2 Sam. 19:2
So the victory that day was turned into mourning for all the troops; for the troops heard that day, “The king is grieving for his son.”

Acts 24:12
[My accusers] did not find me disputing with anyone in the temple or stirring up a crowd either in the synagogues or throughout the city.

Mark 12:33a
"…and ‘to love [God] with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,’ and ‘to love one’s neighbor as oneself,’…"  [The scribe who agreed with Jesus about the most important commandment]
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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