The Energy that Defines Us

 

We are continuing to let the echoes of the Prodigal Family (Luke 15:11-32) dance and dwell and help us define the stories we tell ourselves and others this week.  Yesterday I shared a quote from Rev. Timothy Keller about how all three characters (Father, Older Son, and Younger Son) are part of our operating systems.  Their scripts are like programs downloaded into our lives.  Our words can echo their words.  Today, we turn to a quote from Henri J.M. Nouwen’s book, “The Return of the Prodigal Son,” to help us dive deeper into this parable. 

 

Nouwen writes, “Many of my daily preoccupations suggest that I belong more to the world than to God. A little criticism makes me angry, and a little rejection makes me depressed. A little praise raises my spirits, and a little success excites me. It takes very little to raise me up or thrust me down. Often, I am like a small boat on the ocean, completely at the mercy of its waves. All the time and energy I spend in keeping some kind of balance and preventing myself from being tipped over and drowning shows that my life is mostly a struggle for survival: not a holy struggle, but an anxious struggle resulting from the mistaken idea that it is the world that defines me.”

 

Nouwen is describing and defining how both the younger and older son’s scripts are woven into our lives and hearts.  In both sons I see what Nouwen calls, ‘an anxious struggle resulting from the mistaken idea that it is the world that defines me,’.  Those words are particularly poignant and potent.  Do you hear your story in Nouwen’s words?  Do you see yourself? 

 

What if we all accept that it is our struggle and suffering too often define our stories?  How often does the emotion of anxiety – which can masquerade as anger or lashing out – control what we say and do?   

 

Then, what if, we recognize there is a better story of God’s love and grace that can co-author what we do and how we inhabit?  This love is not fluffy and simply ‘be nice’ ideas.  It is often pointed out that we don’t know what happened the day after the party.  Maybe the younger son and father needed to have a heart-to-heart; maybe the relationship was re-defined; there may have been tears shed as each shared the hurt and harm; maybe the older son was there too – or perhaps he never joined the party and is sulking out in the field.  We don’t know.  Families and relationships are complex and complicating and unique.  Each of us is a mass of constantly changing energy, when we collide with other’s energies, there is always a chemical reaction.  While sometimes we can predict what will happen, other times the elements of energy you meet in the energy of the other person will create something beautifully unique. 

 

How does the quote from yesterday and Nouwen’s from today deepen your connection to the story?

What new insights awaken within you as you think about the prodigal sons and father within you?

 

May you today know the healing embrace of God welcoming you home; may you know the presence and promise of God that says, “You are with me always”; and may your compass point you toward a love that will never let you go.  Amen.