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.

Prisoners of the Pandemic?--April 7, 2020


Merciful God, you have heard our groaning—
we feel like prisoners of the pandemic,
without anyone to comfort us;
open our eyes, set us free.

When we say we do not know how this can be,
put your seal on us, in our hearts give us
Christ’s Spirit as a first installment
of our freedom in you.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 34; 146; 25; 91
Lam. 1:17-22
2 Cor. 1:8-22
Mark 11:27-33

Selected Verses
Ps. 146:7b-8a
The LORD sets the prisoners free;
         the LORD opens the eyes of the blind.

Lam. 1:21a
They heard how I was groaning, with no one to comfort me. 

2 Cor. 1:21-22
But it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us, by putting his seal on us and giving us his Spirit in our hearts as a first installment.

Mark 11:33a
So [the chief priests, scribes, and elders] answered Jesus, “We do not know.” 

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)