11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
Luke 15: 11-32
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If you read the previous post, "Everything has always been", this passage may take on a new perspective. In knowing that all is necessary for us to see life in the light or darkness we choose to give it.
There are three characters in this parable: the father which symbolizes God, the elder son which represents the pharisee*...
* The pharisees for those who do not know, was the group who saw to the crucifixion of Jesus with the support of Roman Rule and the misinformed/ignorant crowd. The pharisee was the holiest and highest ranking official in the Jewish order, the most pure, the ones who upheld the law word for word instead of opting for consciousness and action, enveloped by love; in other words they had knowledge, they had the word, they lived by the word, but this word was bidimensional, flat, they let themselves be led by a decidious ego, an outdated self, one no longer congruent with the time- this being what Christ challenged.
All too familiar right?
... and the younger son, which represents man.
Man in search of freedom may at first believe God takes this freedom away or conditions it. Man then alienates himself from He who created him because he has not yet understood the Love of his Father, and for man -without understanding- this same love has become a burden. The Father gives his Son his share and lets him go. After sacrificing his inheritance, which value he does not know, he then enslaves himself to his mind, to others, to other things.
The son begins to think of his return, after acquiring consciousness of his slavery, knowing he´s become exactly what he thought he was running from, that he himself made himself a slave. He realizes his Father may have better grounds for his being, he goes back. When the son returns he sees his Father is different than the idea he had of him, that his Father welcomes him back with open arms and prepares a feast, his Father doesn´t even mention that the son has wasted what he was given, for this is in the past.
The elder son, the "irreproachable" man, does not understand and questions his Fathers love, he serves only because he is looking to be rewarded, or be recognized superior to others. What he does not know is that his ambition has made him blind to the Love and learning he´s always had.
We then realize that God is Father, and we his sons and daughters, one of the main messages of Christ, that the Love of the Father is free, that there is nothing we can do to be separated from this Love. The only thing man suffers from is the distance from this truth, the illusion of distance, and we ourselves are made slaves to the physical cause and effect of our thinking and our actions. If we wish to be part of the wilderness we will live according to the law of the wilderness.
The sky at intersection with earth, holds other "laws".
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