Staying

“Son, you are always with Me, and everything I have is yours.” (Luke 15:31).

The Return of the Prodigal Son (James Tissot)

I have been thinking about how I very often argue with people.  Usually what happens is that I give something my best shot and try my best to explain something to someone and then – right at the end when I have exhausted every opportunity to speak to someone about the thing, I simply shut down that part of the communication and continue along my merry way without it…  Effectively what this looks like is that nothing really changes but everything does.  It means that while I may be physically present with another person, my heart is a little withdrawn and I am never really fully present with that person about that issue again.

This is so much a part of my personality and my ability to cope with various things that I have not tired to do anything about it.  I would not even have the tools to approach something differently.  I give to the very last dregs of my effort and if that does not work, I withdraw because it is the only logical next step for me.

And I have been thinking about that today because there is a difference between staying completely and staying for just a little…

In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, the older brother stayed with the father, but I cannot help thinking that he reacted a little like me.  He was physically present but the heart of him – his full commitment was simply not there…

There was a sort of distance between the father and the son – maybe because they argued about the lost brother?  Maybe because the older brother felt disrespected and unseen by his father, who was so grief-stricken by the son who had deserted him that perhaps the older son felt that he was completely ignored and neglected?

The older son did not rebel against his father, rather he did all the right things – but he did them superficially.  His heart was no longer in it.  He felt the hurt of the perceived rejection, and it made him bitter.  And this is why when the younger son returned to the father, the older brother was so upset.  He felt slighted when his younger brother’s return was celebrated.  And yet, if he were able to remain present while staying with his father, he would not have experienced such things.  If he had stayed present he would have known that there was a joy in sharing in his father’s joy and a reward in sharing in the father’s pain.

“Son, you are always with Me, and everything I have is yours.” (Luke 15:31).

And it seems to me as I consider this story of the lost son being found again and the older brother and his resentment, that I have wasted much time withdrawing, when perhaps I am being called to stay!

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.