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.

Grace Upon Grace--Jan. 8, 2018


You do not delight in wickedness, O God,
yet you formed humans from the dust,
and breathed into them the breath of life,
and made us capable of being wicked.

Then you gave us your Son, Jesus Christ,
the reflection of your glory, imprint
of your being, bearer of grace and truth.
From his fullness we have received,
grace upon grace; he sustains all things
by his powerful word.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 5; 145; 82; 29
Gen. 2:4-25
Heb. 1:1-14
John 1:1-18

Selected Verses
Ps. 5:4
For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
          evil will not sojourn with you. 

Gen. 2:7
…then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.

Heb. 1:3a
[God's Son] is the reflection of God's glory and the exact imprint of God's very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word.

John 1:16-17
From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.  The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

2 comments:

  1. Mea SententiaJanuary 8, 2018 at 6:08 PM

    I enjoy reading your meditations each day. I wish you well in this new year. Peace.
    Chris

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  2. Elmer E. EwingMay 28, 2018 at 12:20 AM

    Hi Chris. This is a many months delayed thank you--only tonight did I check for comments and found yours. As I have mentioned before, I seldom look, because comments come so rarely. In the 14 years I have been writing daily posts for this blog, I have received 16 comments, and that includes the first one from my granddaughter, who helped me set it up. Of the remaining 15, 10 have been from you. What a morale booster you have been, always kind and supporting. Thank you, thank you, thank you! And now I must confess that I have lost track of what happened to your own blogging. I was very disappointed when Christian Century Blogs stopped listing daily postings of all its bloggers, and I lost all touch with them. I am definitely missing yours, so please let me know if you are still posting. In any case, I wish you rich blessings. I know that members of your congregation are fortunate to have you. Elmer

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