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.

We Strain Against an Adverse Wind--March 9, 2018

[From March 4, 2016 archive]

We seek you and your strength, Jesus,
continually we seek your presence;
we strain against an adverse wind.

Lord, save our lives; do not pass us by,
lest aimlessly we run and beat the air.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 22; 148; 105; 130
Gen. 47:1-26
1 Cor. 9:16-27
Mark 6:47-56

Selected Verses
Ps. 105:4
Seek the LORD and his strength;
          seek his presence continually. 

Gen. 47:25
[The Egyptians] said, "You have saved our lives; may it please my lord, we will be slaves to Pharaoh." 

1 Cor. 9:26-27
So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.

Mark 6:48
When [Jesus] saw that [his disciples] were straining at the oars against an adverse wind, he came towards them early in the morning, walking on the sea.  He intended to pass them by.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)