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.

When We Are Discouraged--June 7, 2018



O God, it is easy to become discouraged,
to abandon your Spirit and end with the flesh;
to see everyone around us as liars and evil doers;
to forget all the ways in which you have blessed us;
to set limits on what we can accomplish, assuming
that our resources are too limited, all the while
forgetting you are our greatest resource.
Forgive us our pessimism;
renew us in your
Holy Spirit.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 143; 147:12-20; 81; 116
Eccl. 3:16-4:3
Gal. 3:1-14
Matt. 14:13-21

Selected Verses
Ps. 116:11
 I said in my consternation,
          “Everyone is a liar.”

Eccl. 4:2-3
And I thought the dead, who have already died, more fortunate than the living, who are still alive; but better than both is the one who has not yet been, and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.

Gal. 3:1-4
Are you so foolish?  Having started with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh?  Did you experience so much for nothing? --if it really was for nothing. 

Matt. 14:16-17
Jesus said to [his disciples], "[The crowds] need not go away; you give them something to eat."   They replied, "We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish." 

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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