Rising From The Ashes
- Alicia Reese
- 6 days ago
- 5 min read
A Reflection for Easter Sunday, April 20 by Rev. Alicia Reese
Lectionary reading for 04/20/2025: Easter Vigil
Selected passage for reflection: Ezekiel 37:1-14
Read
Ezekiel 37:1-14 (NIV)
The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”
4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.
11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’”
Reflect
At our church, Easter Vigil is a big deal, in fact, it’s the biggest deal of the year. This four-part service begins on Saturday evening outside around a fire, where we move into a dark sanctuary. In the middle of the service, after the story of God and God’s people has been told from Genesis through Jesus, we move from Lent into Easter, turning up the lights, parading in with Easter Lilies and singing Christ the Lord Is Risen Today. This enactment of moving from dark to light, death to resurrection is a powerful reminder of our hope in a God who resurrects. I see this same enactment in Ezekiel’s vision of the dry bones. I think of how certain flowers only bloom after wildfires, their seeds dormant for years until the heat of devastating wildfire releases them from death to life. Easter Vigil reminds us that death is not the end of the story. In her book Learning To Walk In The Dark, Barbara Brown Taylor says that “new life starts in the dark. Whether it is a seed in the ground, a baby in the womb, or Jesus in the tomb, it starts in the dark.” In the artwork below by Lisle Gwynn Garrity, I see both Ezekiel’s image of dry bones and a place for new seeds to germinate after devastation. I invite you to look closer for what you see, using the following Visio Divina that I developed using an improv exercise called “5-4-3-2-1.”
This is a Visio Divina that helps us ground ourselves in the moment and engage our bodies and senses. As you move through steps 1-5, take a few moments with each, leaning into each of the bodily senses it calls you to. Begin with a few deep, centering breaths.
As you look at the image, what are five things you see visually in the art? What is your eye drawn to?
As you look at the image, what are four things you feel? What feelings, emotionally or physically are noticeable?
As you look at the image, what are three things you hear in the art? That is, if this was a real, living scene that you were in, what might you hear around you?
As you look at the image, what are two things you can smell? That is, if this was a real, living scene that you were in, what might you smell?
As you look at the image, what is one thing you can taste? That is, if this were a real, living scene that you were in, what might you taste?
As you find yourself fully immersed in this scene, imagining yourself in it, I want you to take a few minutes to listen to what God could be saying to you through this piece of art. Does a feeling, word, Scripture, or idea come to mind? If so, jot it down.
Where in our life might we “practice resurrection” as Wendell Berry says? Whether it is imagining dry bones coming to life or experiencing the movements of Easter Vigil, what practices help us rise from the ashes and enact resurrection as a reminder that death and devastation, dry bones and dead hopes, are not the end of the story?
Respond
After completing the Visio Divina, print off the image and color it in, whatever that means for you. As you do so, ask God how in this transition from Lent to Easter, from death to resurrection, God might be birthing new hope in you. Where do you see new life in dry bones and devastation?
Rest
God of Resurrection,
Whatever hopelessness we might be
feeling in body, mind, or spirit,
Lord, breathe your life-giving breath
on these dry bones.
May our hopes come together
again, stand up, and draw breath.
Amen.
About the Author
Rev. Alicia Reese is the Senior Pastor at Resurrection Covenant Church in Chicago, IL. On the side, she moonlights as an improviser and teaches improv as spiritual formation (often inside prisons). She is a Doctorate of Ministry candidate at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, focusing on how improv can be a disrupter for hope in liminal spaces. She and her husband live with their two children and three dogs in Chicagoland.
Comments