The Daily: Wednesday May 22, 2024

Daily Lectionary Reading: Psalm 104:24-34, 35b (NRSV, The Message); Ezekiel 37:1-14 (NRSV, The Message); John 20:19-23 (NRSV, The Message)

God said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Ezekiel 37:1-14 (NRSV)

A spectacular vision and bit of writing in the book of the prophet. The writer could have been looking upon, or remembering, or could have heard about a field of literal bones following the war and violence experienced by God's people. They would have experienced the desolation, the dry bones, of a people that had been conquered and oppressed. How often do we feel like that in our personal, societal, national lives?

Yet, in Ezekiel's fantastic vision, not only do the dry bones animate, they are re-fleshed and made to dance. I wonder, were the re-enlivened as well? Were they just zombies? Flesh puppets?

What would it take for our dry bones to live? As we seek to grow, as we seek to make a difference in our world, how might we experience the animating breath of Spirit giving us a joie de vivre?