It Put Him On His Butt and He Woke Up

At our Tuesday morning free store conversation we talked about Jesus' parable, "A Man Had Two Sons."  The story begins in the grand dreams of the younger son to escape the confines of small town life and seek bigger urban adventures.  To finance his dream the young boy asks his father for his share of the inheritance up front.  We talked about how this was an unusual request on a number of levels not least because it was as if the boy was saying, "Dad, I wish you were dead because I want your stuff now."  As we thought about this Sheila said, "I would slap him down" which made us laugh.  Marney said, "OMG (well she didn't actually say the letters) that reminds me of Marco."

As we progressed in the story it turns out the father actually granted his young son the unusual request and gave him his share of the inheritance even though it might put the family in a tough spot.   Although the story didn't say why the father did this we speculated about his reasons.  Marney said, "My mother favored my youngest brother because she got older and a little tireder (of course it's a word)."  Sheila said, "It's your last child" so you would spoil that child.  We joked with wittle Sheila because she was da baby of da family.  We also talked about how things can get nasty between siblings when it comes to dividing the inheritance.

At this point in the story the younger son gathers everything that he has been given and heads off for greener pastures in a far country.  Marney thought he probably "had an entourage" as the party got started.  However, things began to take a wrong turn because the boy proceeded to squander his wealth in wild living.  As we talked about what squandered might mean Marney said "he partied hard."  She then told us about "crawling up my grandma's steps" after nights on the town.  Donald said loudly that he used to "drink, drink, drink" then he started "throwin up blood" so he realized he had a problem and turned to God.

After the money ran out (for the younger son not for Donald as far as we know) the story says that there was a famine and that since the boy had wasted all his wealth he began to starve.  Things got so bad that this Jewish boy ended up working on a hog farm and actually longed to eat the pig slop.  We thought a person would have to be pretty hungry for that to seem like a good meal.  With the money gone, the party over, and the entourage nowhere in sight, the boy was left all alone without any help or support.

At this point the tragic tale takes a positive turn.  The story says that the young man "came to his senses."  Sheila said, "It put him on his butt and he woke up" which made us laugh.  He thought to himself, "I'd be better off as a servant to my father since the servants always have plenty of food."  So he said to himself, "I will rise and go to my father."  An act of will based on sane thinking changed his life for the better and turned a tragedy into a triumph.

The story says that the boy returned home wanting to find a place as a servant but the father instead welcomed him as a son.  At this Donald told us about a time when he left Charlotte and thought he would never see it again.  He said, "I thought about all the stuff I did" and he was glad when things worked out and he got to come home.

As the conversation moved to a close we talked about what a great party that family must have had that night.  The young son must have been thinking about what a long way he had travelled from the famine in the pig fields to the feast at the family table.  We all agreed that the boy really got far better than he deserved.  Sheila said, "It makes a lot of difference when you get love and respect."