Dealing with Disappointments ~ the Younger Son

 

Yesterday, we named and claimed that disappointment was a thread woven into the story of each person in the Parable of Prodigal-ness (which remember means lavishness or outlandishness bordering on wastefulness).  I see disappointment embodied in each character. 

For the younger son that ache causes him to cash in and run away. I know I’ve tried to run away from my failures and frailty ~ but no matter how far or fast I run away, that disappointment always winds up in the emotional luggage I carry with me.  My guess is that no matter how many lavish parties the younger son attended, no matter how much the façade of living his best life ever, no matter how much he tried escape what he left behind on the farm, it was still right there sipping a cocktail next to him at the party.  You can leave the farm, but the farm doesn’t leave you.  This is an echo of Exodus where the liberating love of God sets God’s people free.  But after only two weeks of wandering in the wilderness the Israelites start longing to go back to Egypt…you know…where they were enslaved!  They start to talk about the glory days of working all day and night, their fingers to the bones, to sit exhausted by a pot of stew with just enough caloric intake to get up and do it all again the next day.  It is amazing how our disappointments can lead us to romanticize a past that never existed, or trying to escape a present we cannot control, or chasing some idealized future that we think will be amazing.

Each of us have a time orientation in our souls.  Do you find yourself looking backwards, around, or forwards more often than not?  Are you trying to recapture and recreate the past, trying to get the most out of the present, or delaying/deferring for a future?  This question is grounded in how we understand happiness.  Is happiness back then, right now, or some future day? 

The younger son grasps hold of a happiness he is trying to create and cultivate.  I wonder if the younger son was a 7 on the Enneagram.  7s are extroverted, optimistic, spontaneous, playful, high-spirited, and practical.  They have FOMO (fear of missing out) and don’t want to deal with pain.  They want to be fulfilled, maintain freedom.  7s are wonderful to be around.  They make us laugh, come up with great ideas for adventures, and see the good in others and in any situation.   Yet, as I said yesterday, every life has disappointments, and you cannot run/party/laugh your way out of all of them.    

When was a moment you ran from your disappointments ~ after all avoidance is a pathway to travel in life.  When did you try to escape to get away from the ache?  Hold this part of your story as connecting to the younger son’s story.  May the healing love of the Mothering-Father wrap around you as you explore this part of who you are.