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.

Losing the Love We Had at First--Dec. 11, 2019


When there is a famine in the land,
a famine of hearing your words,
and our hearts are closed to pity
and our mouths speak arrogantly,
and our deeds are done to be seen
by others, then we have abandoned
the love we had at first.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 50; 147:1-11; 53; 17
Amos 8:1-14
Rev. 1:17-2:7
Matt. 23:1-12

Selected Verses
Ps. 17:10
They close their hearts to pity;
          with their mouths they speak arrogantly.

Amos 8:11
The time is surely coming, says the Lord GOD,
          when I will send a famine on the land;
not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water,
          but of hearing the words of the LORD.

Rev. 2:4
“…But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.  …”  [The Son of Man, to the church in Ephesus]

Matt. 23:5
“…[The scribes and Pharisees] do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long.  …”  [Jesus, to the crowds and his disciples]

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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