Valley of dry bones
37 The Lord’s power overcame me, and while I was in the Lord’s spirit, he led me out and set me down in the middle of a certain valley. It was full of bones. 2 He led me through them all around, and I saw that there were a great many of them on the valley floor, and they were very dry.
3 He asked me, “Human one, can these bones live again?”
I said, “Lord God, only you know.”
4 He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, Dry bones, hear the Lord’s word! 5 The Lord God proclaims to these bones: I am about to put breath in you, and you will live again. 6 I will put sinews on you, place flesh on you, and cover you with skin. When I put breath in you, and you come to life, you will know that I am the Lord.”
7 I prophesied just as I was commanded. There was a great noise as I was prophesying, then a great quaking, and the bones came together, bone by bone. 8 When I looked, suddenly there were sinews on them. The flesh appeared, and then they were covered over with skin. But there was still no breath in them.
9 He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, human one! Say to the breath, The Lord God proclaims: Come from the four winds, breath! Breathe into these dead bodies and let them live.”
10 I prophesied just as he commanded me. When the breath entered them, they came to life and stood on their feet, an extraordinarily large company.
Reflection
Throughout the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament) evil doers and idolaters are understood to be punished by the Lord for being disobedient, despite the covenant that God made with God’s people. Any struggles the Hebrew people suffered were understood to be “teachable moments” inflicted by God. This is a primary difference between the Old and New Testaments. Experiences of restorative justice and God’s grace are the way of Christ, whereas retributive action is misunderstood to be God’s punishment.
Ezekiel was both a prophet and a priest who lived and prophesized among the Hebrew people during the Babylonian exile. It was a time when those in exile believed they no longer had access to God’s presence. They felt that God had expelled them from Jerusalem and the temple. Everything seemed hopeless, until God came to Ezekiel in the land of Dry Bones. The image of ancient dry bones coming together and being resuscitated was a hopeful message of Israel’s restoration. It was, and continues to be, a very effective image.
Today’s passage is one of hope. It became familiar to me when I was a rebellious teen living through the Civil Rights movement of the 1950’s and 1960’s. The hopeful tune “Dem Dry Bones” was penned by James Weldon Johnson in the early 20 th century and was first recorded in 1928.
The image of The Valley of Dry Bones offers three powerful principles for navigating chaos:
1) Nothing is beyond revival. We cannot give up hope. With God’s help all things are possible. God created humanity with free will. Until the inspiration of the Spirit has been ignited among the majority, it remains a challenge to connect the “dry bones” and get them moving.
2) Transformation requires divine intervention. I firmly believe that humanity cannot bring about transformation without the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The phrase “God has no hands but our hands” is a metaphor emphasizing that people are responsible for carrying out God’s will and actions in the world. This phrase attributed to St. Teresa of Avila suggests that we individuals are instruments through which God’s grace and love are extended to others. Our actions, choices, and words are the ways God’s intentions are realized on Earth.
3) Personal participation activates the process. This is why picketing, writing to your elected officials, and getting out to vote in every election is so critically important. Continuing support from humanity is absolutely necessary for complete transformation to occur. We cannot give up. This was true in the the time of the Babylonian Exile, in the 19 th & 20 th Century and it remains true today.
by Kathleen Stolz
For Pondering and Prayer
Proverbs 17:22 says “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”
Have you ever felt spiritually “dry as a bone”? The expression “Bone Dry” in a religious context often refers to a state of spiritual desolation or lifelessness. Dry bones can represent numerous things, a brittle faith-foundation about to fail, a state of being spiritually depleted, feeling hopeless, or feeling as if one is without a connection to God.
Prayer: O gracious and loving Lord, we live in a time that feels chaotic and hopeless. Some of
us refuse to read the news or turn on the television for fear of hearing yet another discouraging report. Then we hear voices of hopefulness among those marching with signs and loud voices, of those who are taking an active part, being positive change-agents in our world. Inspire us to be among the Ezekiels out there who proclaim life among the dry bones, whether we are there as a physical or as a spiritual presence. In the words of Ann Weems* I know in my heart that you will not forget me. Your grace is all-encompassing, and your love has no conditions. You, O God, will not forget me, for you have made covenant with me, and your covenant is forever and ever. (*Psalms of Lament) Amen.
