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.

Pondering Sparrow and Innocent Prisoner--Oct. 16, 2019


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We ponder your steadfast love, O God.
If you care even about the fate of a sparrow,
why do you allow innocents to suffer in prison?

 I have prayed about this with the spirit,
and I have prayed with the mind—
I only know that whatever else
your love extends to both
sparrow and prisoner.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 15; 147:1-11; 48; 4
Jer. 37:3-21
1 Cor. 14:13-25
Matt. 10:24-33

Selected Verses
Ps. 48:9
We ponder your steadfast love, O God,
          in the midst of your temple.

Jer. 37:18
Jeremiah also said to King Zedekiah, “What wrong have I done to you or your servants or this people, that you have put me in prison?  …”

1 Cor. 14:15
What should I do then?  I will pray with the spirit, but I will pray with the mind also; I will sing praise with the spirit, but I will sing praise with the mind also. 

Matt. 10:29
“…Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?  Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.  …”  [Jesus, to the twelve disciples]

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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