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 Darkness, Waiting--Aug. 20, 2020

 

It is dark.

We are waiting.

We are waiting for you.

 

We are not waiting for bad news;

too much bad news has come already.

 

We wait for someone to sit beside us,

to comfort us, to help us understand.

 

O loving God, may we be strong,

may our hearts take courage.

 

When we wait for you,

we do not wait

in vain.

 

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 36; 147:12-20; 80; 27

Job 1:1-22

Acts 8:26-40

John 6:16-27

 

Selected Verses

Ps. 27:14

Wait for the LORD;
          be strong, and let your heart take courage;
          wait for the LORD!

 

Job 1:19

“…and suddenly a great wind came across the desert, struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; I alone have escaped to tell you.”  [A messenger, to Job]

 

Acts 8:30-31

So Philip ran up to [the chariot] and heard [an Ethiopian court official] reading the prophet Isaiah.  He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”  He replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?”  And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. 

 

John 6:16b

It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to [his disciples]. 


Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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