Gospel Medicine Part 2

 

One of the threads that is woven between the Parable of Loving-kindness (Good Samaritan) and Prodigal-ness of Faith (or the Prodigal Sons) is that of choice.  There are decisions being made in both stories that cause ripple effects to disrupt and disturb the water in the souls of the characters.  The Levite and Priest make a choice to stroll by on the other side, perhaps out of fear or glaring/gnawing distrust of others or just because of their own busyness that sees but doesn’t really see.  The Samaritan decides to gaze at his surroundings, stop, tend, and care.  The younger son chooses to run away from an ache or run toward a dream of seeing the world; the older son selects the option of staying at home and working his fingers to the bone (go back and read his speech/soliloquy in Luke 15:28-30, so much emotion packed into those verses that runs off the page).  The Mothering-Father makes a choice to be prodigal (lavish and outlandish) in mending and tending a relationship with the sons.  This week, I invite you to be awake and aware of the decisions you make. 

You may want to keep track of the choices ~ this could be the ordinary and everyday (food you eat or the roads you take) to major decisions (what to do or say in response to a tense situation) to moments you feel like you are backed into a corner and there is no choice. Pause with me to think about which channel/shows do you watch? What will you wear today? Which route do you take to get to volunteer? Do you “like” a friend's post on Facebook (if it is a Morning Meditation, the answer is always an empathic, “YES!)?

You can also look back over a longer period ~ choices you’ve made this year.  Look back at the mundane, major, and moments you felt powerless – forced to travel a path when you wanted to take the one less traveled.  The list doesn’t need to be exhaustive, a few examples of each will start to help shine a light on the story we tell ourselves about the narrative arc of our life.  I encourage you to step back ~ see the forest of your wilderness life ~ and the paths you have trudges, the turns you have taken, the moments that have landed you right here this day.  May God bless the beautiful twists and turns that we travel day-by-day and especially this day as we seek to follow God’s guidance.  Amen.