Name: Micah Louwagie
Pronouns: (they/them/their)
Location: St. Paul, MN
Scripture: Ezekiel 37:4-10 NRSV
Then [God] said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.” So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then [God] said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” I prophesied as [God] commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.
Devotional:
God has commanded the prophet Ezekiel to speak a word of life to a valley filled with dry bones. These bones that once supported living bodies are now bare, their life long gone. But when Ezekiel prophesies to them, they begin take shape. Muscles, tendons, fat, and ligaments reappear, and skin covers them once more. These bones that were dry and lifeless a few verses ago now supported bodies, but there was no breath in these bodies.
The Hebrew word used for breath in this passage is ruach, and can also be translated as “spirit.” While these bones Ezekiel prophesied to now supported bodies, these bodies did not have life; there was no breath or spirit in them. So God commands Ezekiel to prophesy once more, commanding breath and spirit to enter into these bodies, commanding them to be filled with life.
I looked in the mirror today and stood in awe of the life in my bones. The sheer beauty of it almost moved me to tears. I did not always see this life; in fact, there was a lengthy period of time in when I feared there wasn’t much life left in these bones of mine. But God took one look at my weary bones and said, “you shall live!”
My journey of coming out as nonbinary has been a journey of discovering the life that my bones hold, and of realizing that this life is good and holy. Living into my identity has been a breath of fresh air, a renewal of the spirit in my bones. The bones I once feared were too worn and weary to carry me any farther still have plenty of life left in them. God bless these beautiful queer bones.
Prayer:
God, thank you for filling our bones with life. We ask you to bless our bones and the bodies they support.
Amen.