How God's Love Changes Us: Part 3 - Overcoming Grief, Achieving ReconciliationSample

We can assume that the father in this story was not always mature with his grief and his ability to enter such deep love and compassion. The father was a son before he was a wise father; he went through a learning/maturing process that his sons had yet to experience. This is our journey of maturation as well: we enter the Father Realm by making peace with grief so we too can have the courage to love.

In grief we are faced with the inevitable decision of addressing our pain through mourning or opting for ways to escape it. We sometimes make an unconscious vow to disconnect, to love half-heartedly, never going all in again. The drawback to these kinds of vows is that grief and love, as with grief and joy, are intertwined. Grief serves as a shovel for the soul: it digs, mines, and excavates painfully, at times violently. But deep love enters those very same spaces. If we never allow ourselves to feel the pain of loss and betrayal, we will not feel the fullness of love. The father’s epic love for his lost son is shown in the

way he runs toward him, abandoning all propriety. Middle Eastern fathers are not supposed to run; his tunic would have had to have been tied around his torso so he wouldn’t trip or expose his bare legs. Within Jewish culture this behavior would be considered not only odd but shameful. The father thus demonstrated that love is more powerful than shame and contempt. The father’s heart loves wildly because it embraces vulnerability.

Take fifteen minutes to find a quiet place by yourself, take a walk in the woods, or sit by the ocean. In this stillness, what do you hear? Don’t talk—just listen. What is God whispering to you? What stops you from engaging with silence? What are you so terrified to discover? Ask God to grant you courage to face what is within.