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. – Ezekiel 37:6

Today's Scripture Reading (October 5, 2026): Ezekiel 37

I love sitting down with friends and just talking. Admittedly, I like the conversation to be consequential. I enjoy sitting with friends and talking politics, something I try to do at least occasionally. And I have been like this for quite a while. In 2026, as the Canadian province of Alberta prepares to vote on separating from Canada, I remembered moments from childhood, when Quebec considered the same question. I remember sitting in front of a black-and-white television, watching for news of what Quebec had decided, hoping the people of Quebec would choose to stay with Canada, even though I lived thousands of miles away in eastern Canada. My sense, then and now, was that these questions often resolve around a feeling of hopelessness. Alberta and Quebec share that they sometimes feel like the national government is not on their side. Hopelessness about their future within Confederation is compared to a dream of what it might be like if the province seceding from the nation could make its own rules. I am not convinced that, in the long run, the sense of hopelessness would be any better if Alberta or Quebec did decide to go it alone. Hopelessness would still reign in our lives, though who we blame for it might change.

Hopelessness has almost become epidemic in our lives. It is robbing us of the sparkle in our lives and the smile in our worship. We are running too hard.  Work is good for us, but too often it doesn't get us where we need to be. The situation seems so hopeless. As a society, the hopeless desires of our hearts are killing us. We are dying.

I love this passage. There is no valley of dry bones. This passage does not tell of a true story of an actual valley; it is a vision or dream God gave Ezekiel as he tried to instill hope in the prophet, who now lived in exile, far from the places of his youth. I remember an old song that my grandfather used to sing. It was an old spiritual that declared the message of the bones: "Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones. Now hear the word of the Word of the Lord." I think we might need the song sung over us in our Valley of Dry Bones. We need the life God brought to the dead, dry bones, instilled into our lives. We need life back in our desires. We need God's breath in us. We need a reason to hope.

That hope is what God promised Ezekiel and the exiled nation of Israel, and what he still offers us. To look at our dry lives and bring life where there was none before. To renew us and put the flesh back on our dry bones.

I have no idea what today might hold for you. But remember: when everything seems hopeless, that is the time to turn to God and ask for his hope. Be willing to tell the Creator of this world that the dry bones need life. Remember that the battle is His, not ours. Now, hear the word of the Lord.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 38