
As the Prodigal I felt the shame and sorrow associated with the insanity of the actions taken by this young man. I can imagine the torment and fear of returning to my father after my folly.
I spent some time as the elder brother and found a great anger and resentment welling up.
As the servant who was appointed to care for the returning son I felt an odd mixture of feelings that I couldn't really put into words, I think mostly a bewildered set of emotions ( I'm male so I haven't put a lot of time into the discovery of emotions).
I also placed myself in the role of an observer, which yielded still another set of emotions, a curious sort of pity for the son and an almost indignant feeling toward the father for disrupting the status-quo of the day. This is a Jewish family after all and by rights the son would normally be disowned. So for this father to welcome this renegade son is not a kosher deed in the eyes of that society.

As a spiritual exercise, it was a very enriching experience to go through.
This is one of my favourite ways of reading the gospels, putting myself into the parable. It's amazing what you learn about yourself and God! Great post thanks for sharing it
ReplyDeleteThis is a great exercise and I really liked that you shared your feelings from each angle....If I did this with people as well as with Scripture, I think that I would react differently than I usually do.....
ReplyDeleteYou have definitely given me things to ponder today...
ahhh the good prodigal son/daughter!I can't remember how many times I had to pray with that scripture during retreat! And the feelings that came up was always surprising...even after all the times I prayed with it!!!! I should re-read some of my reflections!!! Just for old time sake!
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