"The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones; there were many lying in the valley and they were very dry."
Ezekiel 37:1-2
Doesn't it feel like we are living in a "dry bones" time right now? We may feel tired and dry prayer-wise and our lives are so topsy-turvy we may feel life-less. There feels like much "less" of life right now for so many. And yet, God takes Ezekiel to this creepy field and tells him to prophesy over the dry bones. Tell them I will raise them, love them and care for them, God says. As I prayed with this reading, I pictured the ominous visions we see each day--the pictures of the busy ICUs with people desperately working to save others. I picture the empty classrooms at our school; the faces of students only present in little boxes on a monitor. I picture empty stadiums and ballparks, the empty fairgrounds where the fair was to be this week. I picture the sad faces of people who cannot provide for their families due to job loss. But God reminds me in my prayer that we are beloved. God will cause breath and life to raise us out of this difficult time and set us aright again. I can't help notice how God involves Ezekiel! God wanted Ezekiel to be part of this huge healing project. Ezekiel had a role to play in the dry bones coming to life. As do we. What is our part in the healing of this dry bones time? What words of life can we speak over our dry day? What encouragement and positivity can we bring to any situation we may be in? The field of dry bones comes to life at Ezekiel's prophetic words and God's breath. I feel so strongly that this dry bones field of 2020 will do the same. Let's listen for the words of God tell us what we are to do to help care for and restore each other. Love, heidi
