MEDITATION

In the beginning, God created heaven and Earth. Now the Earth was a formless void; there was darkness over the deep, with a divine wind sweeping over the waters (Genesis 1:1-2, New Jerusalem Bible).

All the Nothingness knew of God was the breath of I Am, whispering "Become!" Until the void was filled chock full of Thriving that included, just for fun, Leviathan, the twisted, coiled one, playing in the ocean (Psalm 104:26).

Switch to the vision God gave Ezekiel (Chapter 37) of a parched valley crammed full of bones, dry, dry. "Can these bones live?" "Only you know, Lord." This is the witness of a heart emptied of all self to accept the fullness of its Creator. If even for an instant you can bear that witness, it is you to whom the Breath of Life says: "Prophesy to these dry bones. Tell them, 'I AM will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.'"

In what valley of death have you and your family/community stood? Your health gone to pot—a vessel of constant pain? A spouse of decades turned unfaithful and walking away? The family farm, your livelihood and your rooted place, swallowed up by the bank after a seven-year drought? This year's favorite: retirement funds evaporated by half when you are already using them? Four of the town's most promising youth smashed in a speeding car on graduation night? Add your own vision of hopes or dreams or "good life" reduced to piles and piles of dehydrated bones.

Pour out your hopelessness before the Giver of Life. Hear the bones rattle into skeletons of promise. Smell the fresh flesh covering them, bit by bit. The new may look very different from the old, but ponder the Creator's work. With a shout of gratitude, call the four winds, the breath of God to fill the new creation with spirit.

- Troy Faith Ward,

Chaplain Josephine