“And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him in the fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat; and no man gave unto him.” Luke 15:14-16
This is that spot and I think these words describe it as well as any – it is difficult to describe emptiness with something, in fact it somewhat defies the word because emptiness is that, a feeling of nothing, and it is hard to describe nothing with something. I suspect everyone has been there, or felt they were there. That feeling of aloneness slides into despair and before you know it, there is a full-on pity party going on. No matter who or what is around, there is an utterly consuming sense of being alone. That’s where the younger son finds himself. He took his inheritance, turned his back on his family, traveled far only to lose it all.
Years ago we took a trip to Washington D.C. and as we were rushing through the National Gallery of Art to get to something at a given time when we passed in front of a painting by Pierre Purvis De Chavnnes of the Prodigal Son at this point. I wanted to linger, couldn’t, yet the image has stuck with me ever since. They say a picture is worth a thousand words – this one is worth more. http://uploads3.wikiart.org/images/pierre-puvis-de-chavannes/the-prodigal-son.jpg
It occurs to me... 
