“And he was angry, and would not go in; therefore came his father out, and intreated him. And he answering said to his father….” Luke 15:28-29 KJV
Or, in Petersen’s The Message:
“The older brother stalked off in an angry sulk and refused to join in. His father came out and tried to talk to him, but he wouldn’t listen. The son said….”
In reading this I am reminded how easy it is to not do the right thing straight up. Something happens, and for one reason or another, I miss the clue and do not immediately respond appropriately. Here, the older brother could easily have joined the party, but it can be someone conveying a sadness I brush aside or don’t respond to, an explained wrong I ignore and move the conversation to something I want to talk about…. Luckily, when I miss the first prompt, there are almost always other opportunities to do the right thing, chances to circle back. This is where pride can get in the way, and I can continue down my chosen path knowing that to go back is to admit my missing the opportunity the first time.
The downward spiral is obvious here. How might things have been different had the elder son said: “Dad, you’re right. I was being a bit foolish there. Let’s go join the party?”
In this I am reminded of one of my favorite quotes, from Felix Frankfurter: “Wisdom too often never comes, and so one ought not to reject it merely because it comes late.”
It occurs to me... 