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.

The Value of Companions--July 30, 2020


Lord, God of Israel,
on a dangerous mission,
we would value the company
of the one who persuaded us to go.

To keep their company intact,
the apostles filled the vacancy
created by the death of Judas.

A company of faithful women
provided for Jesus, following
him even to his crucifixion.

You call to us to go with you;
should we not leap to be
in your company?

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 143; 147:12-20; 81; 116
Judg. 4:4-23
Acts 1:15-26
Matt. 27:55-66

Selected Verses
Ps. 81:13
O that my people would listen to me,
          that Israel would walk in my ways!

Judg. 4:8
Barak said to [Deborah, the prophetess], “If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.”

Acts 1:21-22
“…So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us— one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection.”  [Peter, to a crowd of believers]

Matt. 27:55
Many women were also [at the crucifixion], looking on from a distance; they had followed Jesus from Galilee and had provided for him.

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