I sense the excitement in his mind:
The prodigal taking all that he had
And moving out, a feeling of freedom in the air,
Stretching the strings that held him back,
Rejecting home
Familiar, undervalued,
And stepping out into the world….
Yet every new excitement something less,
And behind the highs lies doubt,
The courage I wear coming apart at the seams until I stand
Dry-mouthed in disillusion;
Even the dregs as dry as dust,
Living an emptiness,
The wind of loneliness blowing sand in my eyes –
Painful, the road a blur.
Heidi Reiss (1966 – ), c.1987.
In the story which Jesus told (Luke 15:11-21). and as Tim Keller noted: First, the father RUNS to greet his returning son! Dignified Middle Eastern patriarchs did not 'run'. Second, he commands his servants to prepare a FEAST before his son even has a chance to grovel and clean up his life. The lavish prodigal generosity of the father and his acceptance, in short his GRACE, are absolutely free. But that is not the end of the story! The elder brother, who despised his sibling's escape from family respectability and responsibility, was in fact even more SELFISH. When a newspaper posed the question. 'What's wrong with the world?' The Catholic thinker reputedly wrote a brief letter in response: 'Dear Sirs: I am. Sincerely Yours, G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936).
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