The parable of the prodigal Father, I am happy to share was the that which triggered a new awakening. It was a transforming awakening. To this moment I am still delving into its mysterious meanings. We awaken, and then we are reawakened, because of the efforts of The Gracious Creative Spirit. In the old days we used to use The Parable of The Prodigal Son, to describe this parable. But, bo more !!!! Thanks to Henri Nouwen and his book on this parable we have been given a whole new understanding the actions of the threesome whose reality I had no clue about.
Yes, are three presences to be considered, reflected upon, the rebellious son/daughter, the resent-full older brother/sister, and The Prodigal Mother/Father. YES!!! there are three presences that must be encountered, not just one. All three must be reflected on until we are able to own all three realities within our depths. The deeper we go on this journey, adventure , that takes us to the dark places we do not to own, in those depths of loneliness, self-hatred, nakedness, rejection, shame etc. Suddenly Light begins to pierce the darkness and The Depths of The Reality of Love is revealed to us. Who would have guessed ??? The Light of Unconditioned Love grows gradually brighter and brighter and the reality of what we learned about on Transfiguration Sunday , now is our experience. This dazzles us into an unknown reality. a reality not even dreamed of. Who can challenge The Power that is experienced by those who cry out from their place of poverty. The Psalmist councils us, " When the poor called out, The Lord heard and from all their distress He rescued him."
We are in tremendous need of clear- sightedness, honesty and courage to gradually embrace, and grow to love; the rebellious young son/daughter, (the first half of life), the resent-full older son/daughter, (the second half of life), and The Prodigal Mother/Father who offers" unconditioned, unlimited, and unrestricted" prodigal, mercy-full Love. As we know from our journey into mercy, mercy is the love that heals us, soothes us, comforts us, protects us, transfigures us and transforms us. All this is too much to take in at first glance. It takes years to actively encounter all that is offered to us. We are always slowly growing understanding of the deep mystery of The Prodigal Father's love. The Prodigal Lover will ALWAYS give us what we need, not what we want. The acceptance of what is, is the secret.
The love revealed to us makes no sense to those with eyes clouded by the restriction imposed by common sense, or the binary way of seeing. The Father is not looking at the balance sheet. The resent-full brother sure is, and is ready to share the insanity of the Father's actions. He points out, " Look that son of yours, ("NOT" my brother,) has blown half of our wealth, and now you have set him up to get half, of what is left." Get a grip he is saying. You have lost your mind. He does not use father or brother. Look at where resentment has taken him to ????. He now has no family connectedness. He stands alone in his resentment.
To the practical eye, The Father has gone overboard. Yes !!! He has. This is The One who offers us love, that makes no sense. We are challenged to reflect on this parable until we embrace all that is being said about the dynamic that is alive and well, within our depths. Acceptance of the actions of Mercy-full moves us, shall we say blasts us, into the non-binary world. Our spiritual garbage can, and does prevent us, from the vision necessary.
No comments:
Post a Comment