Categories: uncategorized
Tags: Faith, Reading Challenge, books, spirituality, Henri Nouwen, Return of the Prodigal Son
Date: 16 August 2008 18:30:59
I have just finished re-reading one of my favourite books (I have been multi-tasking and reading several at the same time!) The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming by Henri Nouwen..
The book initially focuses on the picture by RembrandtThe Return of the Prodigal Son. When Nouwen first saw this picture he was absolutely captivated by it and the early stages of the book document how he spend hours and hours looking at the picture at The Hermitage. His reflections initially were on the prodigal son, then the older son and finally the father and one of his friends said to him
”Whether you are the younger son or the elder son, you have to realise that you are called to become the father. You have been looking for friends all your life; you have been craving for attention as long as I've known you; you have been begging for attention, appreciation, and affirmation left and right. The time has come to claim your true vocation - to be a father who can welcome his children home without asking them any questions and without wanting anything from them in return.”I love this book because it affected me so deeply the first time I read it and having re-read it several times it continues to speak to me on different levels. I clearly identified with the elder son, and yet as I read this book it kind of knocked off some of those sharp edges... edges that I know come back time and time again. Edges that I need to deal with on a regular basis. I am getting there but it is one of those things that takes a long time.