Morality

“I don’t care for the word morality,” says the famous playwright Arthur Miller. “Or for words like right and wrong. The great issue for us is life and death. Whether people are living, or whether they are dying.” Miller is echoing the sentiments of Jesus himself as he tells the story of the prodigal son, the story of two boys, two brothers, two sons of the same father. They were both brought up together in the same atmosphere, to enjoy the same life, and the same inheritance. But one day it all changed.

One boy left home, looking for life, for action. He wasn’t really bad, just young and full of beans. He may have been foolish, but that is often the lot of human beings. He pursued life wholeheartedly and foolishly, and his folly landed him in a pigsty. He realized that this wasn’t really living. Rather, it was leading to death. It was no use staying there. He would be much better off going home and trying again. The boy’s folly helped him grow in understanding. Having admitted his mistakes, having turned from his folly, he could see how the bad times brought goodness into his life.

The only truly bad mistake we can make is the mistake that we learn nothing from! So the boy learned to appreciate life and home and father. He found his freedom. He had thought home a prison, and he left to escape from it. He returned to discover that it was no prison at all! His father’s open arms embraced him, but didn’t smother him. His father’s face held the look of love, not the expectation of duty. His father’s joy was for the sake of the boy, seeing how he would now be able to live his life, taking full possession of himself. He had traveled a long road, through foreign lands and heart-breaking experiences, but he came home to himself and to those who loved him a free and fully alive human being. Lost was now found! Dead had now come back to life!

May we all learn to rejoice more deeply in God’s loving forgiveness. May we proclaim that Good News by the way we deal with each other!