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.

Whether We Live, or Whether We Die--May 23, 2019


How much you
have done for us;
you daily bear us up.
If we live, we live to you,
O Lord; if we die, we die to you.
Whether we live, or whether we die,
we are the people of your flock,
We pass under your hands,
and you count us.
You are our
salvation.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 47; 147:12-20; 68; 113
Jer. 33:1-13
Rom. 14:1-12
Luke 8:26-39

Selected Verses
Ps. 68:19
Blessed be the Lord,
          who daily bears us up;
          God is our salvation. Selah 

Jer. 33:13
In the towns of the hill country, of the Shephelah, and of the Negeb, in the land of Benjamin, the places around Jerusalem, and in the towns of Judah, flocks shall again pass under the hands of the one who counts them, says the LORD.

Rom. 14:8
If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 

Luke 8:38-39a
The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, "Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you." 

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