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 Rebuild what Has Been Broken--Nov. 1, 2015


Merciful God,
as long as we live you satisfy us with good,
so that our youth is renewed like the eagle's.
Stir our spirits, that trusting in your goodness
we will not be alarmed over small matters,
focusing instead on doing your will, to
rebuild broken lives and our broken
world.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 103; 150; 117; 139
Ezra 1:1-11
Acts 20:7-12
Luke 12:22-31

Selected Verses
Ps. 103:5
…who satisfies you with good as long as you live
          so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Ezra 1:5
The heads of the families of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites--everyone whose spirit God had stirred--got ready to go up and rebuild the house of the LORD in Jerusalem.

Acts 20:10
But Paul went down, and bending over [Eutychus] took him in his arms, and said, "Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him." 

Luke 12:22-23
[Jesus] said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear.  For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.  …"
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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