..The bones moved and came together, bone to bone... The breath entered them, and they came alive! They stood up on their feet, a huge army. Ezekiel 37:1-10 The Message

When David made Jerusalem his headquarters and Solomon built his famous Temple, all the Jews were supposed to go to Jerusalem for feast days. Those in the north got tired of making the trek to the other side of the country so they broke away and created the country of Israel. The southern tribes then became Judah. When the Israelites were taken to Babylon, Ezekiel joined them and preached to those in exile.

God sent many visions to Ezekiel to help his people survive their plight, but the most famous of the visions is the one of the dry bones in the valley. God took Ezekiel to a valley filled with bones and asked him if he thought those bones could start living again. Ezekiel replied that only God knew the answer to that question. While Ezekiel watched, the bones started to move, coming together to form skeletons upon which muscles and tendons started to grow. God called on the wind to blow breathe into the bodies and they came to life!

Every once in a while, I feel like those dried up old bones scattered throughout the valley. We can get caught up in a situation that needs help, and we give our attention, our thoughts, our energy, our wisdom, our innovation, and almost our life’s blood to helping. By the time we see the situation starting to turn around, we are emptied out. All we want to do is to lie quietly on the ground for ten years or so. If someone could throw us a crust of bread every once in a while, we would appreciate it!

But sometimes, if we’re really lucky, someone will say something that starts the process of pulling us back together. They may notice a new haircut and comment on it. That grabs our attention, and we start to gather our bones back together.

Maybe someone will give us a call to talk about a book they’re reading, or we’ll hear some special songs on the radio and our attention starts to perk up even more. By this time, we may notice that the yard needs mowing so we get out the mower and, while we’re standing there in our own yard, the wind will start to blow – just enough to brush the hair away from our faces and to send the smell of lilacs to our noses. We can close our eyes and start to feel the wonder of the earth filling us up again as we slowly start to come back to life.

There are days when I can really relate to those old dried up bones – enough so that I can recognize another person who has become an emptied husk. Those are the people we need to pay attention to. Once those bones start gathering, God will send a breath of fresh air to return them to life.

Becky Gillette is a former teacher, newspaper reporter, and preacher who seeks to take an original approach to life’s lessons. She is the author of “Jessie’s Corner: Something to Think About,” a collection of articles which she wrote for a weekly newspaper.