Dry Bones

Every junior at PTS has to take two semesters of Speech. I am in a fantastic class that meets on Monday afternoons, and for the past couple of weeks we have been working on phrasing and emphasis, important things that may get overlooked during public speaking. The verses we have been working with are Ezekiel 37:1-14 known as the Valley of Dry Bones. It is very interesting to look at these verses not from a theological or historical perspective but simply from the questions like "What is important to emphasize" and "How do I speak these sentences to have them make sense to a listener?" It's difficult, and there are millions of possibilities especially once I realized that the translation my professor handed out is different from the one I had been practicing with.

Fun twists occur all the time here. Whenever you feel like you are made of dry bones, God breaths on you. Last week I was feeling very tired and frustrated, and then I went to a chapel service which brought me back into the Presence of God. I can feel my heart being opened by the people and the opportunities here. There are times when I stop to pray and no words come, but I can feel the beating of my own heart... and that's enough. I feel like I've always loved God, and now I'm falling in love with God. I always thought those mystics were crazy talking about being in love with God, but now I get it. I want to spend every minute of every day with God. I want to dance and sing with God. My bones are covered in flesh, and God has breathed on me. It's a wonderful feeling.