Dry

[The Family Table Devotions]

Every now and then, one encounters a word or theme that just keeps recurring. At first, the word or theme flies under the radar; upon retrograde analysis however, a pattern emerges. Can resolution be acquired, or does the repetition slip away only to appear in a similar form?

 

 

One of the traditional readings for Pentecost Sunday is from Ezekial 37 (in part):

The hand of the Lord was upon me. He brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley, which was full of bones. He had me pass through them and go all over among them. There were very many on the valley floor, and they were very dry.

He said to me, “Son of man, can these dry bones live?” I answered, “Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.’”

 

From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%2037&version=EHV>

 

 

That passage was off my radar. Also off my radar was a line from a song that I am rehearsing: "When I am dry, you fill my cup." I am not sure the exact moment when "dry" began to develop as a concept, yet here it is as I write about it. Last Saturday just happened to be my laundry day. The first load made it from the washer to the dryer. I emptied, hung up, and folded the near dry clothes after the second wash load finished. About twenty minutes later, the buzzer on the dryer signaled the end of the second batch. Now if I sufficiently divulged some plot points, you may have guessed what I found… The second load did not dry at all! You run the playback through your mind: did I forget to turn the dryer on? No, I heard the buzzer sound. Maybe the towels in that batch held too much water? Let's run another cycle: check time and temperature, hit the start button. Okay, something just does not sound right. Yep, the tumbler is not moving. Run a cycle just to get the towels dry enough not to mildew, moving everything in the load every three minutes or so, trying not to burn the place down. Those are going to be re-washed when the new drive belt arrives later this week.

 

 

We go through dry spells. And apparently we go through spells when the dryer doesn't work. Dry bones on the valley floor. Wet laundry at the bottom of the broken dryer. Can the dry bones live? Will the laundry be cleaned?  I answered, “Lord God, you know.” 

 

 

You always fill my cup.

 

 

 

 

 

Trust the Promises,

 

 

Steve Skiver

 

 

 

 

Find more on the Hope website

 

 

 

 

 

As a postscript, for further study, read something Jesus said about dry places here. I am not going to touch  that here with a ten foot pole, even if it has a clothesline attached!