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.

If We Listen--Jan. 21, 2018


Open our ears, Lord Jesus,
and make us be still to hear you.
If we listen, listen for your words,
we who are rich may understand
that the earth cannot support
our lifestyle, and that we
must remember
the poor.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 67; 150; 46; 93
Gen. 13:2-18
Gal. 2:1-10
Mark 7:31-37

Selected Verses
Ps. 46:10
"Be still, and know that I am God!
          I am exalted among the nations,
          I am exalted in the earth." 

Gen. 13:6
…so that the land could not support both [Abram and Lot] living together; for their possessions were so great that they could not live together…

Gal. 2:10
[James, Cephas, and John] asked only one thing, that we remember the poor, which was actually what I was eager to do.

Mark 7:31-37
Then looking up to heaven, [Jesus] sighed and said to [the deaf man], "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened." 

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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