After the valley comes the victory

The Valley of Dry Bones resulted in the Victory of our Life-Giving Spirit.

Where have your valleys of dry bones been in your life?

Take time to contemplate that part of your past today.

 

In 1999 I penned the following reflection … I share it with you now …

Dry Bones—Breathe!
A Reading for Voices
Ezekiel 37:1-14 The Valley of Dry Bones
Voice 1:
I am those dry bones lying dead in the Valley. The dry bones that have no life, for life’s been sucked from me; dragged from me; snuffed from me … life ruined midst mankind’s strife.
Voice 2:
I am a dry bone walking through the valley; weeping at the sight ‘neath my feet; for I have no life and they have no life; life ruined by humanity’s strife.
Voice 3:
I am the fresh breath of Yahweh Majestic. The One Who creates and restores. The One Who knows the pain of dry bones. The One Who breathes life into the dead bones, scattered over the valley of strife.
Voice 4:
Together we make up the Valley of Dry Bones: a picture so desolate and stark. Together our dry bones represent the sin of ourselves and others, our sin against Him … Who loves and created us.
Voice 5:
I am the Breath that renews and ignites; that Breath that restores and connects—the dry bones to sinews; the sinews to joints; the Breath that breathes only New Life.
Voice 6:
I am the Breath that restores, re-awakens, the bones and bodies so dead. The death that comes when hearts dry up and spirits and souls lose their lifeblood.
Voice 7:
The Valley of Dry Bones lies deep within each and every person of faith; awaiting the Pentecost; awaiting the fire; awaiting the call to New Life.
Voice 8:
I am that Breath that comes each day to restore, replenish, renew. I am the Breath of the Spirit of God that enlivens the people who cry from their heart: O God let my dry bones live!
Voice 9:
The Valley of Dry Bones ... the Breath of God—praise Him for the cycle of life: for dying to self precedes the new life and the graveyard of self is transformed and renewed … by the Breath of our Pentecost God.
Voice 10:
Our God Who says: let go the things that encumber; let go the things that cause death; let go the things that dry up your bones and rob your spirit and soul! Let go the dryness that seeps through your pores … let go! Let go and let Me … breathe on you; breathe in you; breathe with you; breathe for you … when life becomes so dry.
Voice 11:
And so every year we can walk through the valley and know that our dead bones will gain life. For life comes from God, the God Who breathes life into lifeless bones; to the bones grown so dry … God says: rise up—dry bones and breathe!
Voice 12:
And so we rejoice; rejoice in our God; our God Who breathes new life; Who gathers our bones from the graveyard of death and knits us together in Him: one life-force; one purpose; one meaning; one reason—the One Who knows when we’ve died … and lain in the Valley of Dry Bones without hope or renewal of life ... because of the strife the world has imposed upon us.
All Voices:
Praise God the Father, the Son and the Spirit; give praise to our Trinity: for where there is death in the Valley of Dry Bones—there’s life in eternity. And eternity begins when we cry out to God—breathe life into me I am dying! God breathes His Breath, refreshing, renewing … the Pentecost Breath of New Life!