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.

Crushed by Abundance?--March 9, 2020


Righteous God, we sing of your abundant goodness,
like the sand of the sea, beyond all measure,
but we have not been righteous
in distributing it.

Like most in my culture, I do not consider myself rich,
nor do I have all I want—by no means a king.
Yet most people in the world would
envy all my resources.

In a hungry world, even we of “modest” means
feel crushed trying to meet the needs
of the poor and oppressed.

God, show us how to be generous and merciful,
as you are generous and merciful.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 119:73-80; 145; 121; 6
Gen. 41:46-57
1 Cor. 4:8-21
Mark 3:7-19a

Selected Verses
Ps. 145:7
[Generations] shall celebrate the fame of your abundant goodness,
          and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

Gen. 41:49
So Joseph stored up grain in such abundance—like the sand of the sea—that he stopped measuring it; it was beyond measure.

1 Cor. 4:8
Already you have all you want!  Already you have become rich!  Quite apart from us you have become kings!  Indeed, I wish that you had become kings, so that we might be kings with you!

Mark 3:9
[Jesus] told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him…

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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