Coming to Our Senses

 

Over the last few weeks, we have held the Parable of the Prodigal Family close to our hearts.  One of the commentaries on this Parable focused attention on the pods the younger son was feeding to the pigs.  These pod, which might have been a carob pod native to the Middle East, was a tactile and tangible symbol.  The fact that the younger son was staring at a food intended to feed a pig, an animal that any faithful Jewish person avoided, was a wake-up call.  Picture the younger son holding that pod standing in the pigsty, muddy muck of life.  See his mouth start to salivate as he, instead of tossing and throwing it to the pig, starts to bring the pod to his mouth.  See the younger son look around to make sure no one is watching as he nibbles a corner off the pod.  Watch as the younger son’s face in shock or surprise, as scripture says, “comes to his senses.”  To use the language of AA, the younger son realizes that he has hit rock bottom.  You may be familiar with the 12 steps of the AA program.  The first step is to admit the powerlessness over alcohol.  In a world where all of us have some addictions, you might find your powerless over gambling, money, success, trending on social media, work, fear, anger.  What is it that consumes you but does not fill you?  What do you keep returning to maybe to numb the pain/ache or because the dopamine surge in your brain gives you a jolt? 

 

I wonder if part of what the younger son did in the muddy muck of that pigsty was Step 4 ~ make a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.  What a powerful invitation for each of us individually and collectively!!  What a holy, heartfelt prayer practice in these days to look at, hold, examine what is on the shelves of our souls.  

 

Especially important in this step is the word, “fearless”.  We all stumble and bumble ~ that is part of the human condition.  Yet, we have been taught and caught to deny and distance ourselves from this truth.  We push our brokenness into the shadows like a child sweeping a broken lamp under the rug praying mom won’t find out. 

 

How might you today survey your life noticing and naming the good, the bad, and the ugly?  Can you invite God to sit with you in life where you are living your beloved-ness and where brokenness causes you to do what you don’t want to do?  May there be a moment of “coming to your senses” in the sacredness of a love that will never let you go.  May each of us this day and week sense God’s grace in healing, hope filled ways.  Amen.