Lectio Divina
He said to me,
Mortal, can these bones live?
I answered,
O Lord God, you know.
Ezekiel 37
I wait for the Lord
my soul waits
and in his word I hope.
Psalm 130
To set the mind on the flesh is death
but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
Romans 8
When he had said this,
he cried with a loud voice,
Lazarus, come out!
The dead man came out,
his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth,
and his face wrapped in a cloth.
John 11
Prayer
God
Who Raised Lazarus
Who Met Martha in Grief
Who Calls Prophets to Valleys of Dead Bones
Here I am
Standing
in a field
I did not choose
Bones
I once called dreams
now scattered
bleached by the seasons
You ask
what I cannot answer
Can these bones live?
Lord
You know
I have learned
how to move on
how to stay busy
how to craft a narrative
But have I forgotten
hope?
So I wait
Even if
with the thinnest thread
of attention
Spirit of the Living God
This quiet refusal
to call decaying bones
as an end…
Oh may it become a prayer
I no longer seek spectacle
but I long to see
bone by bone
breath by breath
reconstruction of a life lived
near to you
In that space between
Prayer and calling
Just before you say his name
Lazarus
Here I am
Blessing
Dear Friend
The question is not yours to answer.
It is there as invitation to remain.
May you be found in the valley of death
where life begins anew.
May you hear the sound of God
on the move.
May you notice where hope has been harmed.
May you honor the wound.
May you seek the steadfast Christ.
In the Name of the One
Who Greets Us Along the Road