Dem Bones, Dem Bones Gonna Walk Aroun'!

A few teeth, a jaw, a hank of hair -- I recently establish a figure of odd looking castanets in the berry shrubs at the border of my property. Gathering as many as I could find, I took the dark and disgustful castanets to a friend who used to be our local wildlife life scientist for the Forest Service for identification.

"Raccoon," she instantly decided, looking at the heap of bones, pointing out a piece of a jaw here and some dentition there. Know what would have got been the strangest surprise in the world? If, as we stared at the heap of disconnected, disjointed bones, they'd suddenly begun to move about like some bad horror flick -- shifting and trembling to finally happen again their appropriate, joint topographic points -- all strangely coming back together.

How weird, if before our eyes, the skeletal system of a raccoon came together by some unseeable means.

Yeah, exactly like that old spiritual, "Dem Dry Bones!", with your "leg os connected to your knee joint joint bone, your knee os connected to your thigh bone, your thigh os connected to your hip bone..." And eventually everything connected to "your caput bone" and then "Dem bones, dem castanets gonna walking aroun'!"

This old Negro Negro spiritual come ups right out of the Bible. The Old Testament prophet, Ezekiel, have a vision of a whole "valley" full of "dry bones". Then Supreme Being said to the prophet, "Prophesy to these bones, speak to them and tell them to live!"

In Ezekiel's vision, as the Wind of God's Spirit began to blow, the oracle watched the castanets stir into action and get to link themselves; he watched as flesh and musculus tissue enveloped the bare, dry castanets and soon an full regular army stood in presence of him.

All in a Negro spiritual vision, of course.

About 3,000 old age ago.

Why did Supreme Being show Ezekiel this curious vision? What's His point? Bashes it use to us today?

The castanets stand for God's people. The fact the castanets are disjointed, dry and scattered throughout a desert vale is a image of God's people disjointed, dry and scattered.

Just before Jesus Of Nazareth gave Himself to be crucified, He prayed to His Father in Heaven. He prayed about us. About everyone who have ever claimed to be a follower of Jesus Of Nazareth Christ.

He prayed to His Father that we'd all be one. That we'd be one just like Jesus Of Nazareth Of Nazareth and His Father were one.

Just how "one" were Jesus and His Father? Well, the Book is completely clear that Jesus Of Nazareth Of Nazareth is God (the "fullness of the godhead" dwelt in Jesus) and the Father is God.

That's pretty close -- they're both God! But then Jesus Of Nazareth Of Nazareth prays that all His following will be 1 just as much "one" as He and His Father.

Alright -- so we "followers of Jesus Christ" are supposed to be really, really close. Since the Father loves the Son, then I say the following of Jesus Of Nazareth are supposed to love one another the same manner the Father and the Son love each other. How "one" are the following of Jesus Of Nazareth Christ? How well are we demonstrating the intimacy of our love? How caring are the Christians in our community with one another?

Let's acquire to the underside line: the living, breathing Christians of our community could be a batch more "affectionate". Our "oneness" could be manifested a batch more dramatically than it is.

The dry bones? That's us. People who claim to be Jesus' "followers". We necessitate to be "connected" better than we ever have got before!

If we desire to see this oneness go on today, in our lives, what make we necessitate to do? How are we ever going to "get jointed together"?

Just as in Ezekiel's vision, what was it that re-connected the dry castanets into a Godhead "army"? It was the Wind of the Holy Place Spirit. As the Wind blew over the bones, the castanets connected and came to life.

Now, this isn't a "trick question", but what is it that's going to "reconnect" work force and women, wherever you live, into an caring integrity just like Jesus Of Nazareth have with His Father?

Simply put -- as we set down our spiritual "differences" and follow the Presence of the Godhead in the Wind of His Spirit, He'll take us into unity.

Tell me now -- make you experience the Wind?

© 2008 by Emil Swift