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.

Mystery and Victory--April 17, 2020



Your steadfast love, O God, endures forever.

The women found the tomb empty,
they were perplexed. 
What did this mean?

It is a mystery, a mystery
of being brought out of slavery
by your strength of hand.

We will not die; we all will be changed;
you do not forsake the work of your hands;
you will fulfill your purpose for us.

We thank you, dear God;
through our Lord Jesus Christ,
you give us the victory

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 96; 148; 49; 138
Exod. 13:1-2, 11-16
1 Cor. 15:51-58
Luke 24:1-12

Selected Verses
Ps. 138:8
The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;
          your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever.
          Do not forsake the work of your hands.

Exod. 13:14
“…When in the future your child asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall answer, ‘By strength of hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery.  …’” 

1 Cor. 15:51, 57
Listen, I will tell you a mystery!  We will not all die, but we will all be changed… But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Luke 24:2-4
[The women] found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body.  While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. 

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