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.

Hope--Nov. 13, 2020


Grant us patience, O God, 

to wait for you, hope in you.

 

Pour out your Spirit upon us, 

that the dreams we dream, 

the visions which inspire us,

may be acceptable to you.

 

Help us deal well with one another—

quick to listen and slow to speak, 

especially slow to speak in anger,

but ready to offer words of hope.

 

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 130; 148; 32; 139

Joel 2:28-3:8

James 1:16-27

Luke 16:1-9

 

Selected Verses 

Ps. 130:5

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
          and in his word I hope…

 

Joel 2:28

Then afterward
     I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
     your old men shall dream dreams,
     and your young men shall see visions.

 

James 1:19-20

You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God's righteousness.

 

Luke 16:8

And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.


Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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