Breath and Bones

Our bodies are pretty amazing. It is a marvel to me when I really reflect on it, that these bags of meat and bones become bodies that breathe and balance upright, never mind do all the beautiful things they can do! The text from Ezekiel that we're hearing in worship this week speaks to specifically to the breath of God enlivening dry, dead bones. His experience with the breath of God got me thinking about a favorite craft from when I was a kid: turning my name into a body of bones.

I'm pretty sure we'd have done it on Halloween, but I like connecting it with this story and the prophecy of Ezekiel to the bones: Let these bones live! It's a fun way to introduce the bonkers story of Ezekiel to someone while getting your fingers a little sticky together.

I put the instructions to the bones craft below. Before you jump there, I want to offer you a moment to breathe. Do it now! Take a deep breath. Now, if you want to keep breathing, you can use these words as a prayer:

Breath in: Breathe upon these bones.
Breath out: Let these bones live.

Repeat as necessary.

It's, like, science or something that when we still ourselves and breathe we decrease our heartrates and reduce our stress. Breath makes space. May this prayer make space for the life of the Divine in you and give your weary bones new life. Now onto the craft...

Here's what you need: A piece of colored paper or construction paper, a have sheet of white paper, scissors, glue and a pencil.

Fold the white paper in half the short way and write your name with the bottom of the letters on the fold. Then fatten out the letters, making sure they touch each other.

Cut around the letters and unfold.

Glue down the unfolded letters to make the rib-cage of the living bones, pencil side down. Use strips cut out from the remaining white paper to make legs and arms and an oval for the head.

Voila! May your bones be enlivened by the Spirit of God within you.

Taking Pentecost Home

Dwell with the Word
Re-read the story of Pentecost (here it is in The Message) from the Bible or your favorite Bible storybook. A mighty wind and flames on heads and talking in languages. It's kind of a crazy story.

Goldfishflames

If Goldfish are a part of your daily snacking life, you could use them as a starting place for the story. I've noticed that when you turn the goldfish on it's tail it looks a lot like a flame. It could go something like this (if you don't want to sound like an awkward church robot, use your own words):

"Look at this! When you turn the goldfish this way it looks like a flame. That reminds me of the story of Pentecost. After Jesus had gone to heaven to be with God, his friends and followers were all together wondering what to do next. All of a sudden a huge wind blew. Then it was like each of them had a flame on the top of their heads (this would be a perfect time to put the gold fish on top of a small doll). 

They started talking in many languages about all that Jesus had done and about God's love. There were people from all over the world in Jerusalem at that time and even though they didn't speak the same language they could all understand the stories and they were amazed. There were thousands of people who decided to follow Jesus that day. That was the way the church began."

Let them Eat Cake

Pentecost is considered the birthday of the church. Have a Happy Birthday Church cake or make Holy Spirit cupcakes. You can even make flames from mini marshmallows and colored sugar. You don't have to know how to do fancy piping with frosting.

Wear the Spirit

Make clothes that will remind you of the Holy Spirit. Using flame-colored Sharpies, try easy tie-die on white socks or t-shirts. Simple instructions here. I actually tried this one (my socks on the left) and it was really fun.  I will enjoy wearing these and remembering that I walk in the power of the Spirit.

Ring of Fire

Spin your own fiery art with yellow and red paint, a piece of paper cut to size and a salad spinner. These instructions suggest autumn leaf shapes, but you could totally cut these into flame shapes and thread them onto a string or thread for display.

Spirit Walk 

This is a version of a prayer walk. Go for a walk and notice 'signs of the Spirit' around you. Since it's Spring there are lots of signs of new life around. You might also bring a camera, a notebook or vessel to collect things to put in a place that will remind you of God's Spirit all around you.