Dry Bones in a COVID Psalm.
Psalm 130
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.
Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!
If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered.
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
more than those who watch for the morning,
more than those who watch for the morning.
O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem.
It is he who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.
Ezekiel 37:1-14 (The valley of dry bones)
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. He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry.In her book, The Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler says:
He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?”
I answered, “O Lord God, you know.”
Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them.
Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.”
I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.
Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act,” says the Lord.
“All that you touch you change. All that you change changes you. The only lasting truth is change. God is change.” (1)You’ve heard me say this before, The only constant we can depend upon is constant change. It is the new normal.
At our monthly Council meeting earlier this week, I invited the church leaders to take a moment and to breathe deeply for a moment and to linger with these questions.
- How is your heart?
- How is your soul?
- How is your body?
As each person in the conference call responded, I heard that things are changing too quickly, and we are struggling to adapt. I heard that people are finding joy in new experiences of community, and we're exploring new ways to help. This is bigger than we thought. And it has all been so much change. I heard grief, not unlike what the Psalmist bemoans.
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!This has been another rough week for many of us. I invite you to grieve all that is lost in this global crisis. There are those among us who have lost jobs, income, social outlets, childcare, significant school occasions, graduations. We've lost predictability, routines, connection, our health. Some of us have lost beloved members of our family. All of us have all lost life as we once knew it.
Even our way of being the Church has changed. Our traditions of how we minister with others and fellowship together are turned upside down, Our faith is being challenged. We are an Easter people who celebrate the triumph of hope and life over fear and death. But how do we Easter people celebrate this holy season if we cannot get together on Easter morning and celebrate?
There is so much to grieve. And God weeps with us.
And yet, in the midst of the challenges, steep learning curves, and wild uncertainty of this time, it seems to me that there is also something springing into life. I see signs of a budding future somewhere in this wilderness. Dry bones are coming to life.
While our concept of what it means to "do church" is being dimantled, I'm also seeing new opportunities for those who don't "do church" to sample worship services without having to take that scary first step into the church building. I'm seeing contemplative practices -- prayer, mindfulness, and meditation -- grow in popularity. And I'm seeing people who used to snaringly call our brand of Christianity “Social Justice Warriors” see the need and value in seeking the common good. I'm seeing people embrace this interconnectedness of humanity.
Thus says the Lord God: "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” ....and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.Dry bones rattle!
People are finding new ways to connect and support each other in adversity. We are becoming much more aware of interdependency and community.
Dry bones have sinews and flesh!
Technology and the arts are breaking open a new medium with human generosity and empathy. People are look around and asking: “What can I offer of myself to help others? I have a life, a history. What do people need?”
And using their most authentic selves, they are merging empathy, art, and technology. We're seeing our most human instincts merged with our devices.
Dry bones have breath!
In this COVID19 pandemic, we are not only alone together, but are also together alone.
Dry bones live!
In her weekly eblast, Cameron Trimble said,
“I want to ask you to consider that on the other side of this, a better world could be waiting for us. The scale of this crisis invites us to tap into a new level of consciousness to engage it. We will be different on the other side. We are developing a new way of knowing the world, one rooted in deeper wisdom that helps us ask the questions of life that matter most." (2)This week in my DuoLingo Spanish lessons, I learned a new phrase: "en conjunto." It means "together" or "togetherness." I believe strongly in our ability to come together and build a profound togetherness that will shape our would! While everything is changing, let us be the "en conjunto" people. Let the breath of God enter our lives and let us be together in that breath.
"O my people," says God, "I will put my breath/spirit within you, and you shall live,.... then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act,” says the Lord.God is with us in the midst of all of this. Our dry bones will rattle, will find their flesh, will breath the breath of God. These dry bones do live.
(1)https://www.amazon.com/Parable-Sower-Earthseed-Octavia-Butler/dp/0446675504
(2) https://us18.campaign-archive.com/?u=880d1564e06392011b7a6221e&id=b83f0e940d
