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.

Torn in Two, Top to Bottom--Sept. 4, 2021

[From Sept. 9, 2017 archive]

 

Compassionate and merciful One,

as the mountains surround Jerusalem, 

so surround your people.  When Jesus died, 

the curtain of the temple was torn in two,

from top to bottom.  After Solomon 

died, the country was torn in two. 

Countless times your church 

has been torn into pieces. 

Grant us patience with 

one another, and 

endurance.

 

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 63; 149; 125; 90

1 Kings 12:1-20

James 5:7-20

Mark 15:33--39

 

Selected Verses 

Ps. 125:2

As the mountains surround Jerusalem, 
          so the LORD surrounds his people, 
          from this time on and forevermore. 

 

1 Kings 12:16

When all Israel saw that the king would not listen to them, the people answered the king, 
     "What share do we have in David? 
          We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. 
     To your tents, O Israel! 
          Look now to your own house, O David."
So Israel went away to their tents. 

 

James 5:11

Indeed we call blessed those who showed endurance.  You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

 

Mark 15:37-38

Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last.  And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.


Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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