The Prodigal Son

Unity sees Jesus as the Master Teacher and Way-Shower. Christian Scripture points out that many of the teachings left by Jesus are in the form of a parable. A parable is defined as a story with a moral or spiritual meaning.  In all there are some 46 parables recorded in the New Testament, but perhaps the most notable is one called The Parable of the Lost Son, or Prodigal Son. Many of the parables have more than one lesson within their content. Certainly this parable is one such example. In this story the three main characters are: the father, the one prodigal son, and the one obedient, yet ultimately resentful son.  Several keys points are made by the story. One is our free will to explore new possibilities in the form of changing our present setting. This is referred to as a journey to a far country. Another is the feeling of guilt when we fail in a new endeavor. A deeper point is the reminder that we intuitively know that at any time we can return to our true state of being. This is represented in the story by the prodigal son’s return home. But perhaps the greatest lesson of the story is the expression of unconditional love from the father to the son, both sons.  Those familiar with Unity teachings know that, as with all Biblical stories, Unity seeks to find a correlation between the story and each individual person. In other words, what is this story saying about my life, or about your life? Ultimately the story is a micro account of the macro concept of the spiritual journey each individual has chosen to embark upon. In summary we were “home with the father (heaven)”, but decided to go off into “a far country” (the physical realm) to seek our own experiences.  Ultimately the individual, sometimes after being in the gutter, awakens to his or her true nature and decides to return to the Father at which time he/she is received with open arms.