“Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’” (Luke 15: 31-32)
In the parable Jesus told about the prodigal son we find an amazing ancient story that still speaks so vividly and truthfully to us today. (I refer you to Luke chapter 15 if you wish to read it again in its entirety).
Here we have a story about a young man who decides he wants his inheritance right now, even though his father is still alive, and taking that inheritance he journeys off to experience life not only on his own, but left to his devices. From the very beginning we can see that he has set himself up for disaster. He is going to rely completely on his own abilities, hope that circumstances always move in his favor and take the gifts he has been given through the largesse of his father and throw away that with which his father has blessed him.
So what happens? This young man discovers that he is ill prepared for the world he has encountered. He is unable to use the gifts he has been given wisely and soon finds himself at the very bottom of life’s circumstances. From his life of privilege he is now so low and defeated that at last he begins to understand the lessons his father was seeking to instill in him.
So what does this story teach us for today? I would submit that it teaches us everything about the unconditional love of God waiting to be lived in and through each and every one of us.
I think we each have our “Prodigal Son moments.” Think about it. The amazing and lavishly unconditional loving presence of God is always available to guide, lead, inspire, nurture, support and bless us, but too often we begin to think that we can do it all on our own. Most often this occurs because we get distracted by life and the demands of daily living. Our focus shifts to what needs to be done in that very moment to surmount a challenge and instead of pausing to remember we are supported by loving Spirit, we move into “react mode,” where we respond with a kind of reptilian impulse that all too often just makes our circumstances worse. It’s not that we are bad or faithless people, it’s just that our humanity has at those moments overtaken our better spiritual self. We forget that with whatever is happening in life it is our right thinking, our affirmative faith and our positive actions that are available to us to move us forward co-creating new possibilities with the omnipresent Spirit of God. God is with us to inspire and be the energy and vibration that supports our being and doing, and it is up to us to remember that we can call upon this energy and vibration of Perfect Spirit and return to our place of rightful inheritance.
What this parable of Jesus reminds us is that whenever we choose to return to trusting and calling upon God that Spirit (like the father in the story) rejoices and receives us back. Each and every time. Without recrimination or punishment, but with joy and happiness that again we are celebrating this meaningful relationship. We may make this return to Spirit hundreds of times in a single day and that is wonderful. For each time we remember we are loved and blessed we can celebrate another victory and another homecoming.
I personally take great comfort in knowing that I can always bring my thinking and my awareness back to Spirit/God. I can always with a simple shift of my thinking return to a place of calm assurance that I am being blessed. Even the chaos of daily life becomes a blessed time when we remember we are never walking alone.
Affirmation: I know that through all the chaos life may present I can always return to the presence of Spirit/God right where I am at every moment and feel renewed peace, calm and happiness.
Rev. Jefferson Beeker
http://jefferson340.wix.com/index
We live our lives one thought at a time. Let each of those thoughts really count for something wonderful.
Be prepared to change your thinking and change your life.
Follow me on Twitter @jeffersonbeeker for daily affirmations of uplifting and positive faith.