3rd August Trinity
Luke 15:1-32
Now many customs officials, despised by the people,
who called them sinners and expelled them from their community, sought to be
close to Jesus. They wanted to listen to him. The Pharisees and teachers of the
law however were upset by this and said, “This man accepts sinners and eats
with them!”
So he told them this parable:
“What man among you, who has a hundred sheep and
loses one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open and go looking
for the lost one until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his
shoulders rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and
neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that
was lost!’
I tell you, there will be more joy in the heavens
over one human being, living in denial of the spirit, who changes his mind,
than over the ninety-nine righteous who think they have no need of repentance.
Or which woman, if she has ten silver coins and
loses one, does not light a lamp, sweep the whole house and search carefully
until she finds it? And when she has found it she calls together her friends
and neighbors and says, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had
lost!’
In the same way, I tell you, there will be joy among
the angels in the world of spirit over one human being living in denial of the
spirit who manages to change his heart and mind. “
And he said further: “A certain man had two sons.
The younger of them said to his father, ‘Give me the share of the estate which
falls to me.’ And he divided his wealth
between them. And not many days later the younger son gathered everything
together and went on a journey to a far country and squandered his estate in
the enjoyment of loose living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine
came over the land, and he began to be in need. So he went and attached himself
to a citizen of the country who sent him out into his fields and let him herd
swine. And he longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the swine were
eating, but no one gave him anything.
Then he came to himself, and said, ‘How many of my
father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here of hunger.
I will rise up and go to my father and say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against
the higher world and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.
Make me one of your hired men [workers].’
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| Kathryn Doneghan |
But the father called his servant to him. ‘Quickly!
Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand and sandals on
his feet, and slaughter the fattened calf. Then we shall eat and be merry. For
this my son was dead and is risen to life. He was lost and is found again.’ And
they began to celebrate.
Meanwhile the older son was in the field. When he
returned home and came near the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing.
He called one of the servants to him and asked him what it meant. He gave him
the news: ‘Your brother has come home again. So in joy your father has
slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back again safe and sound.’
The son grew dark with anger and didn’t want to go
in. But his father came out and pleaded with him. He however reproached his
father saying, ‘Look! For so many years I have been with you and have never
neglected one of your commands. But you never gave me so much as a goat that I
might be merry with my friends. And now comes this son of yours who has eaten
up your wealth in scandal, and you offer him the fattened calf.’
The father however said to him ‘Child, you are
always with me and all that I have belongs to you too. But now we should be
glad and rejoice, for this your brother was dead and lives; he was lost and has
been found again.’
August
10, 2008
The Father is always watching for our return. We have gone
away; we have sallied forth to experience the richness of the sense world. The
Father, as the story of the lost son stands, was complicit; for the Father did
not withhold the measure of his inheritable wealth when the son asked him for
it. One could say that the Father enabled his son to squander an inestimable
treasure; but this in fact also brought about the moment of deep need and
painful self-awareness, the awareness of guilt and of his own responsibility,
an awareness of how far he had strayed from home.
Last night my teacher taught me the
lesson of poverty,
3rd August Trinity
Luke 15
When human beings come to themselves, they remember their
origins in the divine world of the Father. The angels rejoice when we find our
way back home to them again.
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| Westly |
Once the distractions of the world subside, one is left with
one’s own (impoverished) self. But in that moment of aloneness, we can also
recognize that we are indeed at the same time deeply connected; connected with
all the wonders of the world; connected with all the people whom we love and
who love us; connected with the Father’s rich love.
Rumi expresses something of the quality of this feeling of
coming to oneself:
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| Return of Prodigal Son, Chagall |
Having nothing and wanting nothing.
I am a naked man standing inside a
mine of rubies
clothed in red silk.
I absorb the shining and now I see
the ocean
billions of simultaneous motions
moving in me.
A circle of lovely quiet people
Becomes the ring on my finger.[1]
I was dead, then alive
Weeping, then laughing,
The power of love came into me
And I became fierce like a lion
Then tender like the evening star.[2]
www.thechristiancommunity.org
[1]
Rumi, “I Have Such a Teacher”, in The
Essential Rumi, by Coleman Barks, p. 133.
[2]
Ibid, “Sublime Generosity, p. 134.
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