Dry bones dancing

"He asked me, 'Son of man, can these bones live?'

I said, 'Sovereign Lord, you alone know.' "

Ezekiel 37:3

I have been sitting with the first verses of Ezekiel 37 this week, savoring them, rejoicing in them. So much in these words resonates in my heart This verse especially, where Ezekiel is being shown a valley of sun bleached bones and everything is dry, barren, and hopeless. The Lord asks Ezekiel if hope can be found here.  How does Ezekiel respond? “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”  I love how Frederick Buechner describes how the Lord answers his own question:

“The first thing that happened was a sound of rattling and clicking like the tide going out over a million pebble beaches as the bones started snapping together again. The next thing that happened was a million reassembled skeletons pulling on bodies like long winter underwear. The last thing that happened was the color coming back to a million pairs of cheeks and the spark to a million pairs of eyes and the breath of life to a million pairs of lungs.”
Frederick Buechner Peculiar Treasures p. 37

I love what this passage says about the power of God to heal and restore, and what it says about how He longs to do those things. Sometimes here in Haiti my hope gets weak. I listen to the stories of some of my patients, or I get another small glimpse into their struggle to survive. I see the damage my countrymen and I can do, with our words and with our attitudes. I see the way I continue to value my own schedule over relationships, curt words over patience; these are harmful actions in a culture where relationships are central. I look at these things and despair starts to worm its insidious way into my heart. I start to wonder whether there is any reason for hope. Then grace bursts in. I am confronted with Ezekiel’s words and verses like them, I am confronted with my Lord’s heart for reconciliation and for today at least, it is enough. I repent of my own poor choices, praying desperately for the grace to learn from my mistakes and then I solidly and squarely place my hope on the shoulders of the God who breathes life into dry bones.