Prodigal Poems

4.1.19—Prodigal Poems

When I was in high school, my youth minister gave me a Rich Mullins tape. (Yes. A tape. :-o) I listened to said tape every morning on the way to school, and its songs became foundational to my faith. My favorite song on the album was called “Growing Young.” It is the story of the prodigal son. To this day, the story of the prodigal son is one of my favorites…and I think that it might be so because of the imagery planted by “Growing Young.”

I’ve gone so far from my home ~ Seen the world and I have known ~ So many secrets I wish now I did not know ~ They have crept into my heart ~ They have left it cold and dark and bleeding ~ Bleeding and falling apart ~ And everybody used to tell me big boys don’t cry ~ But I’ve been around enough to know that that was a lie ~ That held back the tears of a thousand prodigal songs ~ We are children no more, we have sinned and grown old ~ And our father still waits and he watches down the road ~ To see the crying boys come running back to His arms ~ And be growing young ~ Growing young…

Confession: I didn’t want to go to church yesterday. I wanted to stay home and rest. Yet a friend really wanted me to attend church with her so I went. And I’m so glad that I did. Yesterday’s sermon was on prodigal son, the father, and the “other” son. The whole service was beautiful. We even prayed that poets and musicians would find the words to express the divine.

As I listened to the pastor speak, I took notes on what she was saying. Sometimes, I think, we can hear the stories of scripture so much that we forget really to hear them. I heard the story yesterday. And it spoke to me. The pastor’s words and interpretation spoke to me, too. So after church, after going to my car and crying the tears that I’d been fighting back during the service, I turned those notes into simple poems. I want to share those poems here. I pray that something in their words will bless you as they blessed me. I pray that something here will express the divine.

(i)
It’s not repent or hell will swallow you up
It’s repent for the Kingdom of God is waiting,
The life changing, life giving embrace of the father is waiting,
Compassion is waiting.

(ii)
As Christians,
Are we free to love and give or
Are we slaves serving in misery?

(iii)
May we take
deep, refreshing breaths
of the cool, crisp
air of eternity.

(iv)
Resentment
causes us
to miss the
divine love surrounding us.

(v)
I want to be a
Pastor. I’m tired of pretense
and fear. Show me how.

“When he came to himself…he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him…(and) they began to celebrate. Meanwhile, the older son…became angry and refused to (celebrate). So his father went out and pleaded with him…‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’” Excerpts from Luke 14:11-32