Joshua 5:9-12, Psalm 32, 2 Corinthians 5:16-21, Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
Joshua is recounting the second Passover; the first marked the beginning of the wilderness experience, this one acknowledges and celebrates its ending. Although a different cause, the Prodigal Son is also emerging from a wilderness experience. It doesn’t matter how we end up wandering in the desert or the wilderness, scripture might suggest that it is a necessary part of ‘growing up,’ whether a child or a nation.
The Prodigal Son is referred to as such because, as the first definition of the word prodigal indicates, he has recklessly and wastefully squandered his share of the inheritance. He returns home, but we do not call him the Homecoming Son. He confesses to his father, “I have sinned against Heaven and against you,” but we do not call him the Repenting or Confessing Son.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the second definition of the word prodigal means having or giving something on a lavish scale. The father in the story offers grand-scale forgiveness, a huge banquet, an over-the-top welcome home. The father’s lavishness, because its bestowed on others, is described as generosity and care. This son also possesses a sense of expanse and extravagance; not for others, but for himself. When focused inward, this characteristic looks like gluttony, greed, and selfishness.
They are different sides of the same coin: both possess a characteristic, in equal measure, each on the opposite end of the spectrum. You could say, both father and son live within a paradigm of expanse and lavishness; we can see that the elder son/brother does not live within such a paradigm. Jung refers to this tick of human nature as the ‘shadow side.’
This parable suggests that part of growing up is choosing to shift our focus from ourselves to others, to use our characteristics and paradigms to benefit and serve others. Reflecting on our own desert or wilderness wandering experiences, invite us to reflect on those paradigms or characteristics that we possess and who benefits from them.
Journal Questions:
What have my wilderness/desert experiences been? How did they involve turning my focus from myself to others?
What paradigms and characteristics do I operate within? What do they look like when turned inward; what do look like when turned outwards?
When I am wastefully extravagant, what do I over-do? What is it I do and/or give lavishly?
Writing to Pray 