Prodigal Sons

Excellent post Granny23, and so true !

I agree about the prodigal son of the bible. Always going bought that was ridiculously unfair.

Can't say I see a lot of what you mention currently in society though. I think most hardworking people, including those at home acting as carers, are usually lauded by their fellows. Whether they are rewarded financially is another matter, of course.

thought! Not bought

It's like Mary and Martha in the bible. Mary being the favourite whilst Martha did all the domestic duties. So unfair!

Jesus said love one another as I have loved you. Food for thought.

I always thought that about the Prodigal son and Mary & Martha. So unfair.
It happens a lot in real life too, how many people care selflessly for relatives but the Golden One is the person who only visits infrequently and does nothing useful to help.
I agree with your post Granny23 it always bugs me when decent people have to struggle for every penny or recognition of their role.

But oldandverygrey we don’t, do we?

'The more you do, the less you are thought of'. A very famous saying. Such a sad shame it is so true.

I agree. It sometimes feels ridiculously unfair. I always hope for karma. What goes around comes around. As ye sew so shall ye reap etc etc

Suziewoozie - I do my best, even when it comes to my DIL!

oldandverygrey I am still waiting for an indication that Jesus Loves Me. Nonetheless I do try to love my neighbours. It is not difficult - all my neighbours are good, decent, helpful people.

I so agree about the Prodigal Son. Seems so unfair that the hard working stay at home son is expected to welcome his wastrel brother with open arms. Obvious that he was always the father’s favourite. Bet he was spitting feathers at the welcome home party.!?

It is funny, but I have always thought the parable of the Prodigal Son to be very unfair ( when I was a child) and contrary to encouraging hard work, steadiness, unselfishness and other such good human qualities ( when I grew up). I think that one may have backfired somewhat and I remember discussing it in quite a heated way with my mild mannered Sunday School Teacher. I was incensed with the unfairness of it!

Granny23 x

I used to be worried about that mote and beam in the eye story.

The father in the bible may have had a party because his son had returned, but he didn't replenish his inheritance, the share that was already the second son's, who had looked after it, remsained his. The father only celebrated because he was so glad to see his son again.

How many on GN have a child close at hand and a child a long way away? Don't you have a big family clebration when the child living in Australia or wherever, comeshome on a rare visit? How often does the son down the road get a party like that?

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

I'm not sure I agree with the sentiments expressed about the caring people being seen as mugs and worse.
It's true that the press say so - but if we are wise, we don't blindly follow or repeat reactionary nonsense like that. At least I hopes we don't - no one I know does.

Granny23 You obviously don't subscribe to these specious, negative opinions as you say your neighbours are lovely.
Most of us have neighbours, friends and acquaintances who are lovely but struggling, caring for others, watching literally every penny or even forced to claim benefits. Do we dismiss them as mugs, drains on society?
I don't think so.

If we all felt like this we wouldn't donate to charities, or volunteer our time, or give to food banks, or the thousand and one other things we do to help our communities and society aka real people in need.
We help one another and if we have compassion, we don't judge. We just give.
We could even say, 'help = love'.

Just what Jesus intended.

So true M0nica
Note to self - be more obviously appreciative of people close to me.

Granny23 I’ve just come home from seeing Sometimes, Always, Never. (Bill Nighy). Have you seen it ?The theme of the prodigal son and especially the other one who stays at home runs through it - along with other themes. It is one of the finest films I’ve seen in ages and towards the end there is a scene with the father and stay at home son where they are playing scrabble in the dark by the light of their iPhones where the latter says something on the lines of ‘ and this is what the non-prodigal son got - days like this with his family’. I cried at this point - the film was such a hymn to the simultaneous ordinariness and extraordinariness of family life, the human condition all in the face of a great sadness and grace and redemption. Nice twist on the prodigal son theme - he didn’t know what he was missing.
There were also some laugh out loud moments, deft directorial twists and amazing cinema photography.
Apologies for massive derail

And on the way out from the venue we passed a massive hall jam packed with people giving blood, waiting to give blood and recovering from giving blood and I thought - this is what we should celebrate - this amazing goodness of so many of us. And I felt that our politicians just don’t deserve us

Good OP Granny

I am more fortunate than some, but still on life's hamster wheel, peddling furiously just to get nowhere fast. My parents had it even harder but struggled on, for no reward - just death before retirement for my hard-working Dad, and no real pension for my widowed Mum.

If you have little, you feel it even more when the chips are down. If life slaps you it is much harder to get up.

We all depend on the goodness of others, or at least society around us being caring and enlightened. It makes the world a better place if we can, as Jesus taught "Love one another"

I am not sure why the Prodigal Son was rewarded for his feckless ways, but I suppose the message of not giving up on a selfish-spendthrift may apply. I am not sure he would get much sympathy from me if he were a sibling, especially if he had been favoured over me on his return. Could lead to family rows I suspect!

It's a bit like us having to sympathise with a person living the high-life by maxing out all their credit cards and then going broke. If it were family I wouldn't cold shoulder them, I suppose. I'd welcome my sons back into the fold, but they'd get some ear-ache about being irresponsible and stupid - If that isn't in the Bible I'd like to know why not - and they'd have to work their way back to solid foundations. I think that would be a more sensible and caring approach from any parent. A feast? No way.

Good posts suziewoozie I'll look out for that film.

I agree Bordersgirl57 the parable was simply illustrating that a loving Father (God) was delighted that a ‘son’ had returned to him and forgiveness is possible at any stage.