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Read Luke 15: 20-24 

Starter Prayer:  "Well, good God, if this is true, I have had it all wrong up until now.  Who are you, and who am I?"  (From Wondrous Encounters by Richard Rohr)

Obviously I can't do better than Rembrandt!  The image of the Return of the Prodigal Son is replete with images that engage emotion.  And feeling the experience of what it is like to return to God does so much more for the heart than thinking ever will.

When I think about what Jesus said about the father, the younger son, the older son or any of the others in the parable (including the servant told to kill the fatted calf for the feast to celebrate the return of the wayward boy) I can stay in my head and just think about those roles.   I can think about who was right or wrong, who was benevolent and who held a grudge, who was drawn into the drama and who was kept on the sidelines.

But as I look into the picture and simply sit with it I see this, and it blows my mind.   I see myself as every single one of the characters in the picture -- the one on the knees, the one resisting the celebration, the one hiding behind the curtain wondering if this could possibly be true.

Who are you, God?  and who am I when others look at me?  who am I when you look at me?  Who am I when I look at myself?