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.

For Victims of War--Dec. 15, 2019



You lead the humble in what is right,
O God, you teach the humble your way.
We seek to do your will for those
who have lost everything from warfare:
whose cities are ruined, farms
are destroyed, economies are chaotic,
whose people were slaughtered.

Help us restore their economies,
heal the wounded, console the bereaved;
strengthen them in every good work,
and comfort their hearts,
we pray.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 24; 150; 25; 110
Amos 9:11-15
2 Thess. 2:1-3, 13-17
John 5:30-47

Selected Verses
Ps. 24:9
He leads the humble in what is right,
          and teaches the humble his way.

Amos 9:14-15
I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,
          and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,
          and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.

2 Thess. 2:16-17
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word.

John 5:30
“I can do nothing on my own.  As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me.  …”  [Jesus, to his persecutors]

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