the prodigal

the prodigal

the father 

veils himself and

issues forth as

a prodigal seeking

peace and love

in a foreign place..

she suffers..not

finding after searching

with exuberance

among colorful attractions

of places and things..

in exhaustion she 

cries for help..and

grace is recognized

with joy as she

remembers:

I and my father

are one...

“The true adventurer goes forth aimless and uncalculating to meet and greet unknown fate. A fine example was the Prodigal Son — when he started back home.” 

― O. Henry, The Green Door

  The Departure of the Prodigal Son

To go forth now
from all the entanglement
that is ours and yet not ours,
that, like the water in an old well,
reflects us in fragments, distorts what we are.

From all that clings 
like burrs and brambles--
to go forth
and see for once, close up, afresh,
what we had ceased to see--
so familiar it had become.
To glimpse how vast and how impersonal
is the suffering that filled your childhood.

Yes, to go forth, 
hand pulling away from hand.
Go forth to what? To uncertainty,
to a country with no connections to us
and indifferent to the dramas of our life.

What drives you to go forth? 
Impatience, instinct, a dark need, 
the incapacity to understand.

To bow to all this.
To let go--
even if you have to die alone.


Is this the start of a new life?

~~Rainer Maria Rilke

Understood spiritually, Lent is a time for preparation for Easter, 
which is not only a celebration of Jesus' resurrection, but a
reminder that we are summoned to leave behind that which
entombs us.  Attitudes like resentment, hatred, complaining, 
pessimism, worry, anger, pettiness, and gloom can be graves
in which we linger and languish for a lifetime.  Without 
realizing how it came about, we can find ourselves with at 
least one foot in graves that render us lifeless and in need
of resurrection...
~~Tom Stella, CPR For The Soul