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.

When We Say Farewell--July 12, 2020


Lord Jesus Christ, Holy One of God,
we know who you are, but not
as well as you know us.

When we say farewell to those we love,
there is nowhere we could travel
that you will not be with us.

As we proceed to cross
the Jordan, lead us,
hold us fast.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 103; 150; 117; 139
Josh. 1:1-18
Acts 21:3-15
Mark 1:21-27

Selected Verses
Ps. 139:9-10
If I take the wings of the morning
          and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
          and your right hand shall hold me fast.

Josh. 1:2
“My servant Moses is dead.  Now proceed to cross the Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the Israelites.  …”  [The LORD, to Joshua]

Acts 21:5b-6
There we knelt down on the beach and prayed and said farewell to one another.  Then we went on board the ship, and [the believers in Tyre] returned home.

Mark 1:23-24
Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?  Have you come to destroy us?  I know who you are, the Holy One of God.”

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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