Insanity
The Fourth Sunday of Lent
Daily Reading: Luke 15:1 – 3; 11 – 32
Focus Passage:
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."
Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. . . .
"Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.'
"The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!'" (Lk. 15:1 – 3; 25 – 30)
This passage is repeated today, eight days after being the daily passage for Saturday of the Second Week of Lent. The passage is lengthy and complex, however, and allows for multiple points of exploration.
In the previous meditation, I dealt with the younger son in the story. His journey is one paradigm for the spiritual life. He was hungry for something deeper and more meaningful in life, so he gathered resources from his home, including his inheritance, his experiences, and all his background as a son and brother. Then he went away searching, spending his resources on those things that he felt might bring him the depth of life for which he was seeking.
In his seeking, two things happened: First, he could not find a life that satisfied him. Second, he spent his resources down to zero. This was the point at which he was ready to experience life. He “came to himself,” that is, when all the exterior resources ran dry, he found within himself a connection to what was real and most meaningful in life, and only then was he ready to return home.
So I suggested that the spiritual life entails leaving and spending, until we discern what does not satisfy and begin to recognize what does satisfy. That describes the younger son’s story.
The elder brother had different story. He never asked for anything. He never explored. He never left the familiar. He never explored to the edge of his life-world.
He stayed “on the farm” and “in the field.” He never left. He never sought. He never followed his hungers.
As a human being, I assume he yearned for meaning, purpose, and the deepest things in life; however, he never acted upon them. He stayed where it was safe. For him, there was never a leaving and never a spending. There was only the day-in, day-out rut of trying to find life in that which could not give life.
Maybe you’ve heard the modern proverb which defines insanity as doing the same thing time after time, while expecting a different result. And maybe you have experienced the reality of that kind of insanity.
If the saying is true, the elder brother was insane.
In the lexicon of the spiritual life, the most abundant life is found in spending ourselves – resources, experiences, “inheritances” – not in accumulating and hoarding them.
Think of it this way: Spirituality is about subtraction, letting go, and surrender. You may prefer addition, adding more experiences, knowledge, and morality to your life and thereby accumulating a stockpile of goodness.
Spiritual wisdom says, however, that we are most ready to receive authentic and abundant life when we are spent down to zero, when we have said “No” to everything else that is not God.
Only at the end of all we have trusted, do we find God. Not only do we find God, but we also find our own resilient soul fearlessly clinging to God for life.
For Reflection:
Take some time today to reflect on your own “insanity” (as defined above). How have you experienced the truth of this saying?
Give some consideration today to ways you have stayed on the farm (as the older brother did). Perhaps you will be alert to future invitations you sense to leave the farm.
Daily Reading: Luke 15:1 – 3; 11 – 32
Focus Passage:
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."
Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. . . .
"Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.'
"The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!'" (Lk. 15:1 – 3; 25 – 30)
This passage is repeated today, eight days after being the daily passage for Saturday of the Second Week of Lent. The passage is lengthy and complex, however, and allows for multiple points of exploration.
In the previous meditation, I dealt with the younger son in the story. His journey is one paradigm for the spiritual life. He was hungry for something deeper and more meaningful in life, so he gathered resources from his home, including his inheritance, his experiences, and all his background as a son and brother. Then he went away searching, spending his resources on those things that he felt might bring him the depth of life for which he was seeking.
In his seeking, two things happened: First, he could not find a life that satisfied him. Second, he spent his resources down to zero. This was the point at which he was ready to experience life. He “came to himself,” that is, when all the exterior resources ran dry, he found within himself a connection to what was real and most meaningful in life, and only then was he ready to return home.
So I suggested that the spiritual life entails leaving and spending, until we discern what does not satisfy and begin to recognize what does satisfy. That describes the younger son’s story.
The elder brother had different story. He never asked for anything. He never explored. He never left the familiar. He never explored to the edge of his life-world.
He stayed “on the farm” and “in the field.” He never left. He never sought. He never followed his hungers.
As a human being, I assume he yearned for meaning, purpose, and the deepest things in life; however, he never acted upon them. He stayed where it was safe. For him, there was never a leaving and never a spending. There was only the day-in, day-out rut of trying to find life in that which could not give life.
Maybe you’ve heard the modern proverb which defines insanity as doing the same thing time after time, while expecting a different result. And maybe you have experienced the reality of that kind of insanity.
If the saying is true, the elder brother was insane.
In the lexicon of the spiritual life, the most abundant life is found in spending ourselves – resources, experiences, “inheritances” – not in accumulating and hoarding them.
Think of it this way: Spirituality is about subtraction, letting go, and surrender. You may prefer addition, adding more experiences, knowledge, and morality to your life and thereby accumulating a stockpile of goodness.
Spiritual wisdom says, however, that we are most ready to receive authentic and abundant life when we are spent down to zero, when we have said “No” to everything else that is not God.
Only at the end of all we have trusted, do we find God. Not only do we find God, but we also find our own resilient soul fearlessly clinging to God for life.
For Reflection:
Take some time today to reflect on your own “insanity” (as defined above). How have you experienced the truth of this saying?
Give some consideration today to ways you have stayed on the farm (as the older brother did). Perhaps you will be alert to future invitations you sense to leave the farm.
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