The Prodigal Part 2

"Becoming an addict is the worst thing that has ever happened to me in my life"....


"Becoming an addict is the best thing that has ever happened to me in my life"...


Two addicts, two different views on life.....

Why?

It has to do with the story of the Prodigal Son. I wrote the chapter in my previous blog from last week. (You can read it for yourself in Luke, chapter 15)...



I've heard these words often. To one person, their addiction has ruined their lives. They've suffered loss. Loss of health, finances, family ties, jobs, reputations....

Another addict has suffered as much but sees life in a completely different way.

Like The Prodigal, they have squandered their wealth (however you might describe "wealth")... and they have found themselves far from home, friendless, pennyless, ...perhaps even living like one of the pigs in the pig-pen of life....seemingly without hope, without a future.

The difference between the two is that one has, as in the story of The Prodigal, "come to their senses" and headed for "home".. to a loving Father,.. perhaps for the first time. They have surrendered their lives to God. Given Him the "junk" in their lives. They made a U-Turn in life and headed in a Spiritual direction, a place where they are taken in and embraced as family. They've found "community" in groups like The Church, or A.A., or N.A., Al-Anon, or a family group that shares their experience, strength and hope. (by the way, the word "repent" simply means to "turn around".... go in a new direction)....

It's not a terrible thing to be a "Prodigal" in the eyes of God. Actually we're ALL prodigals in some sense of the word, but most of us never seem to realize it. We're all broken and Spiritually "homeless", but we've learned to cope with it, somehow even seem to have prosper in it.... materially.

What the one addict (the one who considers it a blessing), has learned, is that no matter how much a person screws up their life, there is a homecoming awaiting them and there is a Love awaiting their return Who is constantly watching the distant hills, daily waiting to see that wandering soul of a son or daughter,..come up over the horizon. A Father who is willing to not only "forgive" all faults, but is ready to throw a party to celebrate our return. This prodigal has experienced a supernatural grace that the other prodigal (the one who considers their addiction a curse), will never experience.

When Jesus told this story he was talking to an audience which included a lot of very "religious" people who didn't think they were in need of grace. They "had everything together" and were appalled that Jesus would depict God as a loving Father who was willing to embrace "sinners".... prostitutes, drug addicts, gambling addicts, sex addicts, I.R.S. agents (the scandalous "tax collectors" of Roman-ruled Palestine)...... and even those who simply saw their need for grace and mercy... and forgiveness. The scandal of.... grace.

A key figure in the story, I believe, is the older brother. The brother who seemingly never did anything wrong, the brother who stayed on the farm and did all the heavy lifting. The one who never scandalized the family. He was appalled and angry that his father would accept this "black sheep" back into the family and even set him back in a position of trust. The older brother....

The Father showed that he loved the older brother just as he loved The Prodigal, but the older brother just couldn't stand this extension of forgiveness and grace. It wasn't "fair". The Bible teaches that God isn't "fair" when it comes to forgiveness... when it comes to giving grace freely and lavishly.

I think it's a great thing that Jesus portrayed God in this way, for most of us would be simply lightning rods for judgment if we truly got what we think is "fair" treatment from God for the way we've lived our lives.

The Prodigal.... He forever had a different relationship with the Father he had abandoned and disgraced. He found out that he had a Father who truly loved him and accepted him. He never realized this before. Now he had a new perspective on life. His prodigal ways had become the best thing that had ever happened to him. His eyes were opened to love and he had come back home .... for the first time....



"Grace substitues a full, childlike and delighted acceptance of our need, a joy in total dependence. The good man is sorry for the sins which have increased his need. He is not entirely sorry for the fresh need they have produced.".......C.S. Lewis

Plastic Surgery

I had to go in for a doctor visit the other day... so, I took along a really good book to read (Blue Like Jazz, by Donald Miller... I highly recommend it), and was looking forward to some quiet time while I was waiting for my name to be called.
Suddenly, right at 9 a.m on the button, the television, bolted to the wall directly above my head , began blaring..."The Regis And Kelly Show"!.... loud enough that folks could hear it all the way through the building and the McDonald's about a block away.
I tried to just keep reading and simply ignore the inane blathering above my head. But, something about their conversation caught my attention. They suddenly started talking about "plastic surgery",.. and how, breast enhancements were becoming "passe". The NEW trend was in "calf" enhancement and , "upper arm" implants. (I kid you not).... Folks had commented so much on Michelle Obama's sleeveless blouses and how great her "arms" looked that now women wanted arms like hers... or "calves" like.... I don't know..... calves?.....(the barnyard variety)....?
Anyway,... it made me almost sick,.. and mad. They were talking about all these implants and I was thinking to myself, "What they really NEED is a BRAIN implant!"....
I had recently seen a program on t.v. where entire families in Asia were living on floating boats, eating fish out of a river full of diesel fuel, garbage and human waste. Raising families on 5 bucks a day by selling fish from that same nasty river. And here we are, worried about how we "look". Amazing.
Plastic surgery. That's a good name for it. Plastic.... Like when something isn't really real. We use to say, "Hey, is that real?".... and someone would answer forlornly, "No, sorry,...it's just plastic".
I think it's a real gauge of where our society is. We, as a society, are so fixated on "appearance". Women have to have bigger (smaller sometimes, but most of the time "bigger")...breasts, and firmer "butts", and better skin and nails and teeth and eyelashes....calves and upper arms. Men have to have more hair, six-pack abs, bigger.... well, you figure it out.... The only thing it seems we don't need bigger or more of .... ego.
I realize I'm venting. I normally try to write a blog that is more.... more,... uplifting?....
But, sometimes you just gotta vent. All I'm saying is: If you are one of those people thinkin about having plastic surgery (unless you've been in a fire or accident and need to be restored to some "normalcy".... please, I beg you... don't!... That goes for face-lifts too. Have you actually "seen" Kenny Rogers lately? His wax figure in Branson, Missouri looks more lifelike that he does.
We all love Martin Luther King Jr. We love to think about what a great man he was, how he changed segregation, how he stood up (and was persecuted for standing up for) some amazing things. We love to quote him. It makes us sound kind of cool, ...I think...
Martin Luther King Jr. said: "A man (or woman) should not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
I agree. I also think we shouldn't judge "ourselves" by the content of what is "under" the skin, especially Silicon Valley "implants". We all need to work on our "character". We need "character" implants.
That's what I love about God and The Church, real community, family, and 12-Step Programs. They help develop character. They don't care about your bra size....
Someday, if God ever asks me, "What did you do with your life, .... I don't want to stand there like and idiot and say, "Well, let's see... I got these really cool hair implants.... and I got these great looking abs...and "calves"... don't forget those!... Spent a fortune on them!"....

And God would look at me sadly and say something, like.... "I see... but, I don't think you really understood the question. The question was: "What did you do with your.... LIFE"?.....