Dem Bones

(Parents and caregivers, we recognize that your family may celebrate all, or none, or just one of these three holidays. Feel free to pick and choose among them, to best suit your needs. If you want to learn more, we thought this article on Allhallowtide was really informative.)

Over the next three days, we celebrate three special days: Halloween (October 31st), All Saints Day (November 1st), and All Souls Day (November 2nd). Many of our churches hold festivals or services around these days; depending on the families or cultures we come from, some of us say “Boo!” and go trick-or-treating, while others of us make prayer flags, light candles, and remember those who have gone before us.

No matter who we are or where we live, Allhallowtide, as the three days are called, invite us to remember the saints, martyrs, and loved ones who have died and are no longer with us.

Read Ezekiel 37:1-14
(This translation is from God’s Word, My Voice)

God plucked me with his fingers and lifted me up and set me down in the middle of a valley full of all kinds of bones, which were very dry. God said to me, “Do you think these bones can come back to life?”

I said, “I don’t know, God. You tell me.”

“Tell these bones to listen. Tell them that I will cause breath to enter them so that they might live again. I will put cartilage on them and muscles and skin. And they will live and they will know that I am God.”

So I told them that. And suddenly, I heard rattling as the bones came together into skeletons. And then cartilage formed and muscles and skin covered them. But there was still no breath.

God said to me, “Say this to the breath, ‘Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these bones that they might come alive.’ ” And they lived and stood up on their feet. There were a lot of people all of a sudden standing before me.

God said, “These bones belong to the whole house of Israel. They think they’re all dried up, and they have no hope of living again. But say this to them for me, ‘I will open your graves, and bring your people back to life and to the land of Israel. I will breathe my Spirit into you and you will live again as my people in Israel. And you will know that I am the Lord and that I have acted.’ ”

ASK: In the story of the Valley of Dry Bones, God gives a man named Ezekiel a vision of a bunch of dry bones all of the sudden coming to life. What do you think the bones represent?

Just like Ezekiel’s vision, sometimes God makes the dead things come alive once again. How have you seen this in your own life, in nature, or in the world around you?

During Allhallowtide we celebrate those who have died and are no longer with us. Who are you remembering today?

(For a little bit of fun, “Dry Bones” by Gregory Porter is a fun song to accompany today’s reading).

Finish with Prayer:

God, we thank you that you’re in the business of raising up dry bones!
God, today we thank you for: (something or someone you’re grateful for)
God, today we need your help with: (something hard or difficult you need to do)
God, today please be with: (someone who may be sick, sad, or hurt)
We ask all this in Jesus’ name.
Amen