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.

Slaves to Security--Nov. 7, 2018


You take no delight in the power of our bombs,
nor in how fast we can deliver them.
Many in our world suffer in prolonged bondage,
gnawing their tongues in painful agony.
Spare us from so exulting over our own security
that we care nothing about anyone else.
Lord Jesus, free us from our slavery to ourselves;
grant us compassion like yours for others.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 89:1-18; 147:1-11; 1; 33
Zeph. 2:1-15
Rev. 16:1-11
Luke 13:10-17

Selected Verses
Ps. 147:10
[The LORD's] delight is not in the strength of the horse,
          nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner…

Zeph. 2:15a
Is this the exultant city
     that lived secure,
that said to itself,
     "I am, and there is no one else"? 

Rev. 16:10-11
The fifth angel poured his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness; people gnawed their tongues in agony, and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and sores, and they did not repent of their deeds.

Luke 13:16
"…And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?" [Jesus, to those who complained about his healing on the sabbath]

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