Bone
Dry
“The
hand of the Lord was upon me and he brought me out by the Spirit of
the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones.
He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on
the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, 'Son
of man, can these bones live?'”
Ezekiel
37:1-3
I
always get very excited when I see this piece of scripture listed
among the lectionary readings; I can never resist writing about it.
Perhaps it is the graphic nature of the story, in which the bones
come together bone to bone, and then tendons, flesh and skin
magically appear and cover the bones, and they stand up. I love the
image of Ezekiel calling to the four winds to breathe into them and
give them life. Perhaps, I'm intrigued because I have visited the valley of dry
bones more than once in my life, and I have known many others who
have said with Ezekiel, “my bones are dried up and my hope is
gone.” I suspect we all make a pilgrimage to that valley from time
to time.
Here is a secret: when you are in the valley of dry bones, you
are very close to the Source. It is there that Spirit moves among the
dried out husks of life and breathes new energy into them. Sometimes, when all the distractions are stripped away, and all in the whole
world we can do is lie in that valley and wait, Spirit's potency
becomes greater. Potent enough to restore us to our very marrow and
stand us on our feet again, renewed. It happens. I know because I
have seen it, and experienced it.
One
thing to recall when you're lying in that valley of dry bones is that
you are never cut off from the love that is God. Not when you are
fresh and new and enjoying succulent life, and not when you are devoid of joy and bone dry. At all times, Spirit is right there beside you, waiting to pick you up, dust you off, and get you on your way.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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