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.

What I Hope for, What I Know--July 7, 2018



O Holy One,
as I look for you,
my eye is not clear,
but I hope for what
I do not see.

I know
that you are God,
that you have made us,
and that we are yours--
your people, the sheep
of your pasture.

And I know
we must love you
with all our heart,
with all our soul,
 with all our mind.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 122; 149; 100; 63
Num. 24:12-25
Rom. 8:18-25
Matt. 22:23-40

Selected Verses
Ps. 100:3
Know that the LORD is God.
          It is he that made us, and we are his;
          we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Num. 24:15-16
So [Balaam] uttered his oracle, saying: "The oracle of Balaam son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is clear, the oracle of one who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, who falls down, but with his eyes uncovered…"

Rom. 8:25
But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Matt. 22:37
[Jesus] said to [the one who asked him what was the greatest commandment], "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' …"

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