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.

The Meaning of Our Mantle--Sept. 21, 2019


You are our strength and our might,
O God, and our salvation.
Sometimes we must pick up a mantle
that has fallen for us,
but this does not mean we should be the judges,
as to who breaks your commandments.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 56; 149; 118; 111
2 Kings 2:1-18
1 Cor. 4:1-7
Matt. 5:17-20

Selected Verses
Ps. 118:14
The LORD is my strength and my might;
          he has become my salvation.

2 Kings 2:13
He picked up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.

1 Cor. 4:5a
Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. 

Matt. 5:19
“…Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  …”  .”  [Jesus sitting on the mountain, to his disciples and the crowd]

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