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.

A Problem in Accepting Scripture--Jan. 9, 2019



God, I believe in your goodness,
that you are a God of compassion.
The image of you trampling on people,
their blood spattering your robes crimson,
as if you were treading juice from grapes,
is abhorrent to me.  I cannot accept it.
Neither can I imagine Jesus striking
children dead, even if their
mother was a Jezebel,
for he was a healer
who taught us
of your love.
Forgive my
unbelief.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 47: 147:1-11; 27; 114
Isa. 63:1-5
Rev. 2:18-29
John 5:1-15

Selected Verses
Ps. 27:13
 I believe that I shall see the goodness of the LORD
          in the land of the living. 

Isa. 63:3b-c
"…I trod [the wine press] in my anger
     and trampled them in my wrath;
their juice spattered on my garments,
     and stained all my robes.  …"

Rev. 2:22-23a
"…Beware, I am throwing [that woman Jezebel] on a bed, and those who commit adultery with her I am throwing into great distress, unless they repent of her doings; and I will strike her children dead.  …"  [The angel of the Thyatira church, reporting the words of the Son of God]

John 5:13
Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had disappeared in the crowd that was there.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

1 comment:

  1. Mea SententiaJanuary 10, 2019 at 2:09 PM

    In describing his reading of the Bible, Frederick Buechner's Brendan speaks about the bitter broth of the prophets, the thick cream of the Psalms, and the fresh lovely bread of the Gospel. I have thought about these three images. Perhaps the bitter parts are inevitable, but they make the delicious parts taste even better.

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