Hey, I’m finally writing about a book! This summer, I read Henry Nouwen’s The Return of the Prodigal Son. Inspired by a mystical encounter with Rembrandt’s painting of the same name, Nouwen writes about Jesus’ parable, focusing on both featured brothers and their father. He describes not only the happenings of the parable, but places himself in each character’s shoes and invites the reader to do so as well. I found his insights deeply moving and rejoice that I get to read books with such wisdom in spiritual formation. That said, I have yet to discover what spiritual truth learned from it will be most impactful to me. Acknowledging such, I write here as a student who needs to ruminate on the vision of Christian life that Nouwen presents. As a starting point, I will reflect on one theme which I find ever present throughout the book: the depth of Christian freedom.
Freedom, as Nouwen illuminates, flows from the character of the father. His chief characteristic, shared with God in all of Nouwen’s work I have read, is his “heart of limitless mercy” (75). This is the constant in both son’s lives. It is the singular unfailing thing that prevails for all their days. The sons, in their lostness, believe that the father’s love must be split amongst them. They have seen their father’s mercy, no doubt, but are ruled by a belief that it may run out if one uses it too much. One of them will have more of the father and the other less. Yet, in Nouwen’s words, “The Father’s heart… is not divided into more or less,” and “there is nothing that the father keeps for himself” (103, 130). This father offers his mercy as an inexhaustible resource to both sons. Through his long life, he has come to offer a degree of mercy that seeks nothing greater than for his sons to be home. Having seen so much of what the world has to offer, he rejoices simply in the return of his son. God, seeing all, rejoices, “not because the problems for the world have been solved… No, God rejoices because one of his children who was lost has been found” (114). I have heard it said that not only is the son prodigal (read: wastefully extravagant), but so is the father. The father gives far beyond what his sons deserve and far greater than what he seeks. He loves them with an extravagance that they cannot comprehend. This is the character of the prodigal father and of the God whom he teaches about.
It is because of the endlessly giving character of the father that his sons have total freedom. He tells the older son “everything I have is yours” and demonstrates the same to the younger son (2). Though the sons are born into freedom because of their belovedness by the father, each of them chooses to stray. The younger son acknowledges his loss of freedom, planning to return to the father and beg to be treated as a “hired man,” yet his father, in his mercy, will hear none of it. Instead, he receives the younger son in “the Divine love and mercy in its power to transform death into life” (37). The son has left any rightful claim to his father’s house, and is dead in such, yet his father welcomes him back into life abundant. The younger son, in asking for his inheritance, tried to force his way to freedom. Once he had it, he realized that his blessedness lay only with the father.
The older son, on the other hand, has always lived with the father. Even so, he has given up his blessed freedom and is ruled by resentment. Nouwen describes this experience of pious older siblings as a “certain envy toward their younger brothers and sisters who seem less concerned about pleasing [others] and much freer in ‘doing their own thing’” (69). In his envy of his brother, the older son has forgotten that everything the father has is his. In fact, he has rejected what the father desires to give when he is angered at the father’s joyful celebration. Nouwen illuminates this portion of the parable by writing, “joy and resentment cannot coexist. The music and dancing, instead of inviting joy, became a cause for even greater withdrawal” (73). The parable does not, however, end on the older brother closing the door on joy. We do not know how he responds to the father’s invitation. What we do know is that, in love, the father has given his sons a choice. The older son may choose resentment in this parable, but the character of the father is to offer him another chance for joy tomorrow.
The sons’ experiences of the father’s mercy and joy are the source of their freedom. Their father offers all he has to them and endlessly desires to welcome them home. The same is true of the Christian as a child of God. Nouwen discusses the Christian’s opportunity to return with a case study on two of Jesus’s disciples, writing, “Judas betrayed Jesus. Peter denied him. Both were lost children. Judas, no longer able to hold on to the truth that he remained God’s child, hung himself… Peter, in the midst of his despair, claimed it and returned with many tears” (50). Here is described the first of two freedoms God provides His children with: the freedom to claim one’s status as a beloved child. Judas was born as a son of God. So was Peter. Each of the brothers of parable were one. If one is unsure these figures are sons, they need only look at their faces. They are in the very image of the Father they reject. Yet the Father, in his prodigality, will give them their inheritance early if they ask. They are free to reject their sonship if they desire. In fact, all of them do at one point. The father knows this, as Arthur Freeman is quoted “the Father loves each son and gives each the freedom to be what he can, but he cannot give them freedom they will not take nor adequately understand. The father seems to realize… their need for his love and a ‘home.’ How their stories will be completed is up to them” (78). Somehow, the Father sees fit to give His children the freedom to reject Him. Somehow, He offers the gift of mercy each time they seek to return. I cannot comprehend this love. It makes no reasonable sense to me. Yet the Father is generous to give each human the freedom to take up their status as His heirs.
The second freedom flows from one claiming heirship. This freedom is described by the father throwing a feast for the younger son and telling the older that all that is the father’s belongs to the son. When one owns their status as God’s child, they are once again in connection with a freedom Nouwen calls their “basic blessedness” (50). In choosing to receive the father’s invitation back into his home, one is ushered back into the household they were always intended for. Life does not cease in its challenges, but the child is able to rejoice with the father once more. This freedom is not mere freedom of choice, but freedom towards life abundant. Nouwen, on his spiritual journey, describes his temptation to leave the Father and go on a quest to win love. He has come to realize, however, that “as long as [he] remains in touch with the voice that called [him] the Beloved, these questions and councils are quite harmless” (41). Being at home with the Father is freedom because it allows a new perspective. From this perspective, one’s basic blessedness is put into focus and sorrows are met with the great mercy of the Father.
One conclusion follows, in Nouwen’s story, from the freedom found with the Father. It is equal parts a blessing and a challenge.When one is home with the Father, they grow. A nurturing home gives a child great conditions for growth. Further, this home holds a parent to which the child can aspire towards. It is precisely because of the freedom that Christians, as children of God, find with the Father that they have a responsibility to grow in His likeness. One step of this growth is to ask Nouwen’s question “how am I to let myself be loved by God?” (106). To become like the Father, one must let themselves know His love. A Christian who holds God at arm’s length may be transformed to a point, but they can never know the fullness of the Father’s love. They are like the older son who, resentful of the father’s celebration, distances himself from both his brother and father (81). The greatest commandment is to love God and neighbor, and one can do neither without the piercing comfort of the Father calling one beloved. The Return of the Prodigal Son is a reminder that home is closer than all us who lose our way could ever imagine. When home, we are reminded of our belovedness and invited to do more— to “confront, admonish, and encourage without fear of rejection or need for affirmation” (39). Here, we are a beloved child, and here we may grow to serve something greater.
Thanks for reading my thoughts on Nouwen’s Return of the Prodigal Son. I found the book so impactful and full of resonant thoughts that it was hard to narrow them into one essay. I heavily recommend reading it if you were intrigued by any of the concepts I’ve been sitting with. Below are two recent poems. As for music, I’ve been sitting with, I’ve been listening to Jess Ray’s MATIN albums in the mornings, with the standout track being “In the Meantime.”
“To Mend”
Replace the deck boards
And use the old ones
to patch the terrace
It doesn’t look the same
But it will do the trick
Without extra expense
–
Season the cast iron
To bring about another meal
Flavors of old
Make the new richer
Only achieved over time
–
Take out the seam ripper
Away with the hem
Place a patch
Best if it’s scrap
In place of the hole
That a loved pair of jeans may survive
To be worn in the yard
–
Reuse, mend, maintain, patch
–
Time passes
The ship is rebuilt
Is it the same?
It seems the soul is
Of the same character
Imperfect
But with more stories than the original
“I met a climber today”
I met a climber today
A diplomat, too,
He welcomed me
To use his goggles and glove
Keep your hips to the wall, he says
And you will be amazed how you improve.
–
I met a teacher today
An actress, too,
She ordered for me
In a language that sounded new
You’ll learn one day
And will come to love it here too.
–
I met a salesman today
A mystic, too,
He invited me
To listen to the small voice
Though you may be in a funk
It will lead you where you need to go.
–
I hope to meet myself one day
With the same amount of depth
Specializing not in one thing
But guiding others gently in all
That the young amongst us
May see the ways they may grow
The Big Idea 
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