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.

In God’s Hand—for Love or Hate?--June 9, 2020


God, the question is raised:
when we are in your hand,
is it a hand of love or hate?

Your hand sets the prisoners free,
and opens the eyes of the blind.

You gave us Jesus, full of compassion,
with hands that healed and nourished.

Through faith in Jesus, we are free
to be children of your promise.

To me, the answer is clear—
yours is a loving hand,
where I long to be.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 12; 146; 36; 7
Eccl. 8:14-9:10
Gal. 4:21-31
Matt. 15:29-39

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

Eccl. 9:1
All this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God; whether it is love or hate one does not know. 

Gal. 4:28
Now you, my friends, are children of the promise, like Isaac. 

Matt. 15:32
Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.”

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

6 comments:

  1. Mea SententiaJune 9, 2020 at 7:40 PM

    Qoheleth asks the hard questions and is honest in his observations. It’s amazing he’s in the canon at all. One truly does NOT know whether it is love or hate, or simply Camus’s indifferent universe. One trusts that love is behind things, appearances notwithstanding.

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  2. Elmer E. EwingJune 9, 2020 at 9:58 PM

    Thank you for your thoughtful comment, Chris. I too admire the hard questions raised by Qoheleth, and for that matter by (some of) the writers of Job. However, the older I get, the more firmly I am convinced that—"appearances not withstanding”—the universe is under the control of a benevolent, not a malevolent or indifferent, presence. I believe this because of my daily experiences of prayers, supported by testimony from others. I am aware that my experiences have little or no persuasive power for those of a different opinion, because one can assume that I am kidding myself. I also realize that it is much easier for me to maintain this position than it would be for billions of people who suffer in ways that I cannot even imagine. Certainly, it is not because I am in any way more deserving than these others are—on the contrary, by exercise of my privileges, abuse of resources, and failure to share I am guilty of adding to their misery. Therefore, it is good for my soul to be confronted by Qoheleth, even while I stubbornly cling to the loving God made known to me through Jesus—Jesus who calls me to repent of my selfishness, to work and to pray for justice for the “orphan, widow, and alien,” to forgive as I have been forgiven, and to rejoice in his love and grace.

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  3. Mea SententiaJune 10, 2020 at 9:57 PM

    An eloquent statement of faith, Elmer. Thank you. What are your daily experiences of prayer? Breath prayers, or other practices?

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  4. Elmer E. EwingJune 11, 2020 at 5:14 PM

    (Apparently my previous comment was so lengthy that the end of the last sentence was cut off. The complete sentence was: Therefore, it is good for my soul to be challenged by Qoheleth.) You asked about my daily prayers. In the evening I have a different set prayer for every day of the week, updated as events dictate. I begin with praise, then thanksgiving, then confessing my sin and asking God to forgive me, followed by asking God to help me forgive others, then petitions for others, and ending with a prayer for myself. (The petitions address a long prayer list and consume most of the time.) During the day I do use breath prayers and also flash prayers, even about small matters. (My rule of thumb: No prayer request is too small to bring before God unless it was too small to be thankful for, whether or not granted.) More on my prayers and stories about them are in two sermons contained at my web site. Click on http://sites.google.com/site/writingsbyelmerewing/
    and select the 4th and 8th items on the list (5Allthatiswithinme.pdf and RejoicePrayThanksSpencer.doc)

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  5. Elmer E. EwingJune 11, 2020 at 5:25 PM

    Corrections: 1) I looked at the wrong place (on the comments page) when I thought the ending was cut. 2) To reach my website you can also click on the second link below "My Other Writings …etc." on the left side of this page.

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  6. Mea SententiaJune 12, 2020 at 10:19 PM

    Thank you. May your prayers be fruitful.

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