In my Christian Scriptures class, we were given a writing assignment that required us to re-write Luke's story of the Prodigal Son, incorporating the mother, who is not originally included. Here is what I came up with:
Margaret was a mother of two sons. Elliott was 25 years of age, and spent many
years working diligently alongside his father on the family farm. He spent so much time trying to do what he
thought was right in the eyes of his parents and God, that Margaret would fret
he forgot to live a little. “He is
young,” she would think, “and should find a wife.” But her other son, Lukas, lived enough for
the both of them. He was 17 and
impossible to keep track of. Her husband
Peter hardly ever had a kind word to say to Lukas because he was always
finagling his way out of some chore or farm responsibility. Margaret often found herself thinking that
she should be stricter with him, but it had taken a long time to have him, for
she had 3 stillbirths between Elliott and Lukas. She routinely vacillated between feeling joy
that Lukas seemed to be enjoying his blessed life, and worrying that he would
find hurt in the world without a sense of obligation.
One day, Margaret overheard Elliott and Peter having a
heated discussion. Lukas had asked for
his share of his inheritance, and Peter had gladly handed it over to him, so
that Lukas might go and get on with his life.
Margaret was devastated. She
could not believe that her Lukas was gone, out in the world without a single
person to take care of him or make sure he was safe. She never even realized the effect this might
be having on Elliott. Margaret went into
a deep mourning, it was to her as though Lukas had died, and Peter as
well. For Peter did not give Margaret’s
attachment to Lukas any thought when he agreed to let him go. Meanwhile, Elliott continued working all the
chores of the family farm, and also taking on additional tasks to help cover
for the lack of assistance Lukas had provided.
It was difficult work, and with every forkful of hay, Elliott grew
bitter.
Peter did not know what was wrong with his wife. She laid low in the house, weeping and never
saying more than prayers for Lukas’ safety in the world. He could not get her to bathe, nor eat more
than enough to keep her alive. Her
depression was so dark that Peter felt himself being pulled into it, and he
began to lose his motivation to work the farm, leaving Elliott to work even
harder to maintain things.
While all of this was happening back home, Lukas had swiftly
used up all of the inheritance he had been given within months. He had realized that he had squandered a
fortune and been disrespectful to what his family had tried to teach him about
being responsible to a community. He was
so ashamed to have lost everything, that he found himself sleeping with animals
and eating from troughs. After five
months of living in squalor, Lukas realized that he would likely be accepted at
home if he asked for a job as a farm worker and not as a privileged son, and so
he began to head back.
Late one morning, Peter was out hanging the laundry for
Margaret was too weak to do it, and he saw a man walking in the distance. Upon further examination, he recognized the
gait as that of his son Lukas, and he leaped for joy! He ran as fast as his tired legs would carry
him and embraced his long lost son, kissing him with excitement. Lukas said, “Father, I have really messed
up. Would you allow me to work for money
and earn responsibilities here on the farm?”
Peter laughed and wouldn’t have any of it. He took Lukas by the hand and brought him
into the house to see Margaret. Upon
laying her eyes on her dear youngest son, Margaret was filled with the Spirit
and began gathering the finest of ingredients from all over the farm to prepare
a homecoming feast for him, and a goodbye meal to her depression.
Elliott, however, had seen Lukas coming along the road, and
watched his father’s reaction to his brother’s homecoming. He was devastated and humiliated that Lukas
would receive such an affectionate response to his behavior, while he himself
had been the sole protector of what remained of the farm. He approached Peter and said, “Why would you
do this now? I have spent my life doing
what I was taught to do, and giving this farm and family all of my
attention. Yet, you and mother never
prepared a feast for me! But Lukas comes
home a mess, and you pull out all the stops!”
Peter replied, “Son, you are my rock.
You have been with your mother and I through the hard times, but now
Lukas is home, and the hard times of depression are gone. Both he and your mother were lost, but now,
look – they both have been found!”
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