The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me round among them; and behold, there were very many upon the valley; and lo, they were very dry. And he said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord God, thou knowest." Again he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.' " Ezekiel 37:1-4 (RSV)

To some disappointed people, life is a long valley of dried bones. To them, the world is like a glass marble that has dropped, unnoticed, from the pocket of the Almighty, and is rolling its unhindered way down the gutter of time to drop into oblivion. No matter where they look, they see the bleached bones of life…