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A "Commencement" Reflection: "Rise Up, Dry
Bones"
A "FIRESTARTER"
Spiritual Essay by Rev. Dr. Benjamin Berinti, C.Pp.S.
‘Tis the season
for Commencements! Whether it’s little Pre-K children heading off to the rigors
of Kindergarten next year, or Senior Citizens completing that long sought after
Bachelor’s degree at the age of 70, the thrill of “graduation” is a special kind
of stimulation. Yet, perhaps more than this, Commencements and Graduations are
times for reflection, deep reflection about who we are, where we are going, the
vibrancy of our hopes and dreams, thankfulness for our giftedness, and God’s
guiding hand along our path.
This week I
would like to share with the community a “Commencement Homily” I
delivered over ten years ago at Saint Xavier University in Chicago.
Although most of you are not “graduating,” in a sense, we are all
“commencing”—moving on from where we happen to be at this moment in our lives,
for in the plan of God, we are called to continue growing and changing, moving
into deeper and more meaningful relationships with our own selves, with the
Lord, with one another, and indeed with all creation.
The “guts” of
this homily are based upon the Word of God spoken by the prophet Ezekiel
(37:1-14), where the prophet encounters, and through the power of God’s
Spirit, brings to life the dry bones. I encourage you to reencounter
this marvelous passage through a prayerful reading of this Holy Word.
May this
reflection spur us all on to “commence” with the work the Lord has entrusted to
us as his disciples. May the Spirit bestowed upon us through Baptism and
Confirmation stir up our frequently dry bones!
* * * * *
Sometimes you
just love the peace and quiet—and sometimes you have to love the noise! The
noise of this night is a joyful noise—breaking out in praise and thanksgiving to
God. The bones are rattling…the Spirit is howling…and this place is filled with
life! My two favorite times of the year are the beginning of the school year
and the end of the school year—but probably not for the reasons you may think!
I love these two times of the year because it seems to me, that more than any
others, these are the times when the Spirit is alive and kicking! I enjoy so
much the energy and enthusiasm, the openness and wonder, the graciousness and
generosity, the possibility and vision that come with beginnings and endings.
Unfortunately, a lot of the in-between times are more like joining the prophet
Ezekiel as he is forced to wander across the vast plain amidst those dry bones.
Have you ever wandered through some “dry bones”?
I did…it was
called “The Experience of Religion”—a course I taught one Spring
Semester. Ezekiel had nothing over me that semester! I did everything I could
to breathe the Spirit into that vast field of students…but to no avail. I even
secretly tried to pray Ezekiel’s prayer over my class one morning: From
the four winds come, O Spirit, and breathe into these dry bones that they may
come to life! I waited…and waited…and nothing happened.
Have you met
some “dry bones” in your life? Perhaps you got excited about something
you learned in a class—but there wasn’t anyone to talk to about it—since
everyone was telling you not to “take it so seriously; it’s only a
class!” Perhaps you wanted to spend some enthusiastic time with your family,
but all anyone was interested in was watching television. Perhaps you came into
your work one day, full of life, ready to change the way business was done,
ready to be more committed to your responsibilities, and everyone said, “You’re
making the rest of us look bad! Don’t you know they really don’t care about us?”
Remember the time you sat with a close friend who was struggling with a
problem. You were trying to be as supportive and encouraging as you could—but
all they could say was: “It’s hopeless; don’t even bother; nothing will ever
change!”
Like the prophet
Ezekiel, we know all too well that the plain filled with dry bones is indeed
vast—at times, overwhelming. Not only are there so many bones, but look how
utterly dry they are!
Left to our own
resources, these dry bones can consume us. Joined with the power of God—the
bones start rattling…bone connects with bone…and a vast company starts jumping
and dancing and celebrating life. Left to our own resources, we are like
Ezekiel, standing in the midst of the plain, looking God in the eye and asking,
Can these bones live? Left to our own resources, we are like the
frightened, lost and hopeless disciples of Jesus, cowering in the Upper Room,
praying that no one would ever find them, praying that time would quickly pass,
and they could return to their lives as if they had never met Jesus. Left to
our own resources, the poor remain at the bottom of society; those imprisoned
are trapped forever in despair, and those who are oppressed start to think that
this is the way the world is meant to be.
From the
four winds come, O Spirit, and breathe into these dry bones that they may come
to life! Left to our own resources—these bones can consume us. Joined
with the power of God—bones start rattling; bone connects with bone; and a vast
company starts jumping and dancing and celebrating life.
The beauty of
this graduation night is that we are allowing ourselves to be the “spirited
people” we are called to be. God’s Spirit is speaking to each of our
spirits. It seems to me that what happened at Pentecost was not so much that
the Spirit came and added something to the personalities of the disciples
that was not their own; rather, the Spirit came and unlocked the
spontaneous enthusiasm for the Good News which had been imprisoned by their
anxieties and uncertainties.
From the
four winds come, O Spirit, and breathe into these bones that they may come to
life! God’s enthusiasm is trying to unleash our potential. God’s
Spirit is working hand in hand with our spirit. When we recognize and call
forth the most creative, most open, most dynamic dimensions of our own lives,
then we know the Spirit is within us. When we recognize and call forth the most
enthusiastic, most visionary, most hopeful dimensions of our own lives, then we
know that the bones are rattling; bone is connecting with bone; and a vast
company of humanity if jumping and dancing and celebrating life!
St. Ignatius of
Loyola spent a great deal of his life helping people come to recognize the
authentic Spirit of God in their lives through what are called The
Spiritual Exercises. If you want to know whether or not your bones are
dry, or whether they are rattling…here are a few things to look for:
Are my
relationships with others open, generous, and tolerant? Am I a warmer, more
enthusiastic person? Or am I bent on being narrow, rigid, and intolerant?
Do I respect the
gift of my intelligence? Do I continue to nurture my mind with truth, beauty,
and a willingness to search? Or do I allow my intellect to dry up like
Ezekiel’s bones—pandering to the lowest forms of culture?
Am I excited and
yet humbled by the variety and diversity that exist in our world? Or am I
frightened by them and bent on remaking the whole world in my own image and
likeness?
Do I dream big
dreams; do I imagine things that I might do if I followed my best instincts? Or
do I wile away my time thinking about what can never be, or staying mired in the
past dreams of “what might have been”?
I’m a realist; I
know that a major piece of the great enthusiasm we are experiencing tonight,
part of the excitement of Commencement weekend, is that this is one of those
occasions when you are anticipating getting gifts—maybe even large ones!
In keeping with
this gift-giving tradition, I’d like to leave each of you with a gift. My gift,
however, is a wish and a prayer. Whenever you find yourself struggling with
your own dry bones, lift up a prayer in the spirit of Ezekiel:
From the
four winds come, O Spirit, and breathe into these dry bones that they may come
to life!
Left to our own resources—these dry
bones can consume us. Joined with the power of God—the bones start rattling;
bone connects with bone; and a vast company starts jumping and dancing and
celebrating life!
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