Waiting to Run to Us

 

Just this last week, my wife and I had the task of picking up our daughter at the airport.  She was only gone for a few days, but still we missed her.  And so, we arrived at the airport a little early, parked the car and made our way to the arrivals area.  In the good old days, one would be able to go right up to the gate and meet their loved one as soon as they got off the plane.  Of course, in our age of extreme security, you can’t get anywhere near the gate, but we positioned ourselves as close as possible to the door where passengers were exiting to the area to pick up their luggage.  In the busy JFK Airport, it seemed like countless people were coming through that door as each flight arrived.  Each time another group of people came, my wife and I scanned the crowd, hoping to get a glimpse of our daughter. 

At long last we caught sight of her in the distance.  At that moment we could feel a joy come over us.  We knew she had returned to us safely and so we moved forward towards her, meeting her at the doorway, and getting that much-anticipated hug!

Now, our daughter was only away for four days, and that was our response.  It, of course, is a response of pure love.  Our actions in these types of moments aren’t actually planned to the letter, they are impulses.  They are born out of what is underlining, our pure love for those closest to us.  We do anticipate them, but how we act at the moment is coming from something deep inside of us.  They speak of something much more intense than just not seeing someone for four days.

This Sunday we have the famous parable of the Prodigal Son or as some like to call it, me included, the Parable of the Merciful Father.  We are all familiar with the story.  The younger son squanders his inheritance and when all is lost and a famine strikes and he is hungry, he goes back to the father.  As the father sees him coming in the distance, just as he catches a glimpse of him, he goes running towards him.  Now, yes the father hadn’t seen the son in a long time, but he also had much reason to be angry wit the son.  After all, he took his share of the inheritance and left the father and the older brother.  He abandoned his responsibilities.  The father could have stood back and waited for the son to approach him and beg him for forgiveness, but no, he did something very unbecoming an older man of his stature.  He ran to him

We can all agree, our heavenly Father has many reasons to be disappointed in us these days.  Division, egoism, jealousy, greed, and now war, are all part of who we are.  The Father has every reason to be angry with us.  But yet we know, he is there, just waiting for a glimpse of us coming towards him.  He is ready to run and embrace us and once again begin anew.  All we have to do is move towards him.

- The Servant