Bible Study Tuesday
On Tuesdays, our community will be dwelling in the Word of God, holy scripture. We have our regular Tuesday morning Bible Study which gathers at 10 am. If you would like to join this zoom bible study please email Vicar Karl. We will also have a devotion based upon the appointed scripture for the week, included below.
Take a Deep Breath (Ezekiel 37:1-14)
Ezekiel is brought to the middle of a vast valley full of dry bones. And God instructs him to prophesy to the bones. With a rattling the bones come together with skin but the bodies have no breath. Then God instructed Ezekiel to prophesy to the breath.
Thus says the Lord: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe.
In the midst of a respiratory virus and the stress of isolation. Even alongside grief for lost opportunities or strained relationships. Perhaps, like me, you have forgotten to breathe. The breath of God, afterall, is more than the mixture of gases in earth’s atmosphere. The breath of God life into the mud creatures formed in the garden of Eden. Jesus also breathes the Holy Spirit upon the disciples. Let’s not forget to breathe, for when we do we remember the power of God, gifted to us.
Take a moment wherever you are to sit.
Plant your feet firmly in the ground.
Relax your muscles starting from the top of your head to the bottoms of your feet.
Breathe. In and out.
Perhaps try the refrain from the reading.
Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe.
(Take a deep breathe)
Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe.
(Take a deep breathe)
Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe.
(Take a deep breathe)
With each breath, we remember how God can bring new life and hope even in the dried up places in our life. The prophet Ezekiel had this vision when the people of Israel were without hope and cut off from one another. God promises to put God’s spirit in them, that they will live. This is a promise we all share even as we are cut off from one another for our collective health.
Beloved of God, take a deep breath.
-Vicar Karl Anliker
