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.

The Trap Along the Way--May 25, 2018



We want to walk in the way of righteousness,
love, and justice, O God, but sometimes
there is a trap hidden along the way.
Often the trap is finding fault
with other walkers, instead
of showing mercy to them.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 51; 148; 142; 65
Prov. 8:1-21
2 John 1-13
Matt. 12:1-14

Selected Verses
Ps. 142:3b
In the path where I walk
          they have hidden a trap for me. 

Prov. 8:20
I walk in the way of righteousness,
          along the paths of justice… [Wisdom crying out to passersby]

2 John 6
And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment just as you have heard it from the beginning you must walk in it.

Matt. 12:7
"…But if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless.  …"  [Jesus to the Pharisees]

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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