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.

Courage to Speak Up for Justice--June 6, 2018



God, teach our tongues.
Certainly there are occasions
when it is better to listen in silence
than it is to speak, but at other times
it would be a betrayal to keep silence.
When we draw back in fear instead
of speaking up for justice, help
us to call on you, O God.
Be with us in trouble.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 65; 147:1-11; 125; 91
Eccl. 3:1-15
Gal. 2:11-21
Matt. 14:1-12

Selected Verses
Ps. 91:15
When [those who love me] call to me, I will answer them;
          I will be with them in trouble,
          I will rescue them and honor them.

Eccl. 3:1, 7
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak…

Gal. 2:11-12
But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood self-condemned; for until certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles.  But after they came, he drew back and kept himself separate for fear of the circumcision faction.

Matt. 14:3-4
For Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because John had been telling him, "It is not lawful for you to have her." 

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