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.

Human Things or Divine Things--Nov. 14, 2015


How easy it is, dear God, to set our mind
on human things, not on divine things.
It is human to ask you to remember
all the things we have done well,
lest we fall into the bottomless pit;
teach us instead to rejoice and be glad
in each day you have made for us,
as we embrace
your steadfast love.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 56; 149; 118; 111
Neh. 13:4-22
Rev. 20:1-6
Matt. 16:21-28

Selected Verses
Ps. 118:24
This is the day that the LORD has made;
          let us rejoice and be glad in it. 

Neh. 13:22b
Remember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love.

Rev. 20:1
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain.

Matt. 16:23
But [Jesus] turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!  You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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