"Some days you eat the bear, some days the bear eats you." Ian Mathews

Valley of the Dry Bones

“Prophesy to these bones and say to them; O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.  Thus says the Lord God to these bones; I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.  I will lay sinews on you and cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

            My Bible falls open to this passage from Ezekiel.  I find irresistible the image of the valley of dry bones being called back to life; of the bones coming noisily together and flesh forming on them.  I love the fact that a mere mortal, with instructions from God, can call to the four winds and cause breath to enter them.  They stand on their feet, a vast multitude.

            So often have I lain in the valley of dry bones in my life, as a child and as an adult, I can easily identify with the bones.  Dry and strewn about, not even resembling a human being, they lay bleached white by the sun, no longer remembering how they once fitted together.  When I imagine the valley strewn with bones, there is a certain silence and peacefulness there.  Nothing more is expected of them; they are at rest.  Sometimes I need to be bones lying in a quiet valley, and sometimes I have no choice in the matter.  Life takes me and scatters me about.  I suspect there are others who, from time to time, feel dried out and full of dust; others who know the valley well. 

            Isn’t it wonderful how God uses this mortal, Ezekiel, to call God’s people back to life?  Why do you suppose God does not speak to the bones directly?  Surely the power of God’s voice would get them up and moving.  But here is poor Ezekiel, who simply steps up and does as God commands.  Surely this message is about what God is able to accomplish through mortals who listen and then act. 

            Many times when I’m lying comfortably in the valley, feeling as though my bones have done enough, I entertain the idea of a simpler life, one without demands.  Lying quietly strewn about is not all that bad.  I sometimes think, ‘This might be a good time to quit carrying the load, to find some place where I would be a face in the crowd, where no one would expect a stack of old dry bones to serve God’s purpose.’  I lie there feeling righteous, sanctified.  Then Ezekiel’s ancient voice calls to me from across the eons, bringing me back to life, reminding me that God is not finished with me yet.  The song he sings stirs my breath and gets my juices flowing and before I know it, I’m up on my feet, climbing out of the valley.  We are all responsible for doing God’s work in the world.

            I wonder when you have experienced the valley of dry bones in your own life?  What called you back into the world?

                                                                        In the spirit,

                                                                        Jane