Abstract
This address discusses reviving dry bones through the seven principles of Kwanzaa. When Ezekiel has God ask the question, “Can these bones live?,” he reenacts many experiences of the Jews. Can a people divided by social, economic and geographical distance endure hardships and remain intact? Is it possible for persons, even those of noble birth, to remain whole, stripped of everything familiar to them? Can the bones, even though they miraculously reunite, acquire a vitality similar to their previous state? These were questions Ezekiel asked in his vision. Seeing that God can bring life to that which, by all rational thought, is dead, Ezekiel determined that life, not death, is God's will for his people. His question was, “Can these bones live?” The question for those who follow in faith must be, “How can these bones live?” What are the peculiar circumstances in every age that present a problem needing solutions, and what are the unique responses to the circumstances that move us from rhetoric to resolution?