Day 5: The Valley of Dry Bones

I love the passage that Levison chose for this devotion, Ezekiel 37:1-10. Sometimes it is referred to as "The valley of dry bones." It encourages me when things look bleak, even dead. But I have never before thought about it in the way that Levison has described it. Rather than focus on the whole process as he does, I move from the the deadness and dryness of the bones quickly through the clattering of the bones, the growing of ligaments and sinews, etc. and on to the end when all of the bones have become living bodies. Never before have I thought, "How difficult the process of regeneration can be." The sentence that really caught my attention was the one that ended the paragraph about starving children and what it takes for them to regain the sense of hunger and thirst: "They are resurrected, but the midwife of new life is overwhelming pain." Wow. "the midwife of new life is overwhelming pain."

Frankly, I would rather skip the pain and experience new life with pain's absence! I don't like pain. I want to skip the steps. How about you? Going through the slow and painful progression to new life requires perseverance and the will to succeed and above all, God's grace. Yet in the end, it is worth it. I have experienced a lot of pain to become proficient at sports I have played, and clinical training in which I have engaged. While I didn't enjoy it while I was in the midst of it, as I look back, I am glad for having gone through it.

His prayer at the end of the devotion beautifully captures the essence of the devotion, I think.

"Bring me back, Holy Spirit
back to life
back to living
back to hope
Amen"