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.

Forever Thankful--May 2, 2020


Holy God, in Christ you have called us
to leave behind our un-mended nets,
to let his peace rule in our hearts,
and to follow him.

We will follow where Christ leads,
and your goodness and mercy
will follow us.

You will dwell among us;
we will dwell with you
in the one body,
and be forever
thankful.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 92; 149; 23; 114
Exod. 25:1-22
Col. 3:1-17
Matt. 4:18-25

Selected Verses
Ps. 23:6
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
          all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
          my whole life long.

Exod. 25:8
And have [the Israelites] make me a sanctuary, so that I may dwell among them.  [The LORD, to Moses]

Col. 3:15
And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. 

Matt. 4:21
As [Jesus] went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them.  Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

2 comments:

  1. Mea SententiaMay 2, 2020 at 11:02 AM

    I like the image of un-mended nets. Following even with our unfinished-ness. Following in the way of imperfection. 🙂

    ReplyDelete
  2. Elmer E. EwingMay 2, 2020 at 12:51 PM

    Yeah, my life is all about un-mendedness, unfinished-ness, and imperfection. In fact, I'm perfect at all three.😇

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)