The prodigal son returned to his father out of necessity. Broken, penniless, hungry, he thought, "even my father's servants are treated better than this." When the father sees his son returning, he goes out to him and doesn't ask why he has returned or if he is sorry for his rebellious actions...he welcomes him home without question and restores him without requirement. This is a powerful picture of grace. Nouwen points out here that we wind up returning to God again and again, yet God's love and grace are sufficient every time. Rational thought might question such grace, but God's thoughts and ways cannot be confined by such thinking. That is our only hope and the best reason to return again and again and again....
JKA
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Thinking about the Rembrandt card we received last week, it is a comfort to imagine our heavenly father embracing us unconditionally, with mercy and grace, in spite of our many mistakes and returns. Try reading out loud the last 2 paragraphs on p. 76-77, starting "But Jesus came to open my ears to another voice that says..." & see if you are not moved and reassured.
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