"He was still a long way from home when his father saw him; his heart was filled with pity [i.e., compassion], and he ran, threw his arms around his son, and kissed him. 'Father,' the son said, 'I have sinned against God and against you. I am no longer fit to be called your son.' But the father called to his servants. 'Hurry!' he said. 'Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet. Then go and get the prize calf and kill it, and let us celebrate with a feast! For this son of mine was dead, but now he is alive; he was lost, but now he has been found.' And so the feasting began.
"In the meantime the older son was out in the field. On his way back, when he came close to the house, he heard the music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him, 'What is going on?' 'Your brother has come back home,' the servant answered, 'and your father has killed the prize calf, because he got him back safe and sound.' The older brother was so angry that he would not go into the house; so his father came out and begged him to come in. But he spoke back to his father, 'Look, all these years I have worked for you like a slave, and I have never disobeyed your orders. What have you given me? Not even a goat for me to have a feast with my friends! But this son of yours wasted all your property on prostitutes, and when he comes back home, you kill the prize calf for him!' 'My son,' the father answered, 'you are always here with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be happy, because your brother was dead, but now he is alive; he was lost, but now he has been found.'"
The return Home comes after an extreme of deprivation, physically and spiritually - implied by being among Gentiles and pigs - both considered ritually unclean and off-limits. This young man had utterly degraded himself and betrayed his faith, culture, and family. Some similar dead-end road is how most of us, if not all, wake up to the call of Home.
Yet, again, how could he be found without first being lost? The moment of being found is his moment of admitting he was lost, of remembering Home, not looking for any detours from the truth. This pertains to an enigmatic saying of Jesus, addressed to devoutly religious persons: Gospel of John 9.41 (NLT). The religious leaders had asked Jesus if they were blind, like the blind man he had given sight to -
If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty," Jesus replied. “But you remain guilty because you claim you can see."
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The failure of my way proves the futility of our ignorance and pride. Humbled down, we are ready to look "up." Grace is the Way of Life in the means and outcome of our humiliation, so that we can welcome the Way and enjoy freedom from the suffering of self-isolation and alienation from the Light. How many of us have hit a dead-end, to see Grace was there all the time amid our pride and obdurance? This even as the love of the father was with the prodigal son, refusing to go and save the son from his lostness, knowing the son needed to awaken to the love at home to return home.
Continued... |
