Welcome Home
by Catherine MacDonald


Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32



You don't hear of me in that story that was just read did you?



I am Lydia, the mother of those two boys.



Those two very different boys. Nathaniel the eldest and Zachariah, the child

of our old age.



And of course, I am a wife, Simon's wife.



I want to tell you a little bit more of the story.



Do you have children?



So you know how different they can be..



One who never gives a moment of trouble. and another who constantly asks

questions about everything.



I think my second child was born with the word "Why" on his lips.



In the early years it was easy to answer his questions.



When I look back, they were pretty easy questions. Why does the sun rise

everyday?



Where does it go at night?



Why does the moon disappear sometimes and shines so brightly other times?



Why do we not eat the meat of pigs?



As he got older, the questions were impossible to answer.



Why do I have to work in the fields, I want to write a story.



Why can't I go to the next town to find some more musicians.



Why do you want me to take a wife.



Ach.. Questions, questions and more questions..



I tell you it drove me crazy some days.



Of course it was worse because my eldest son loved to work in the fields, he

gladly and willingly went out with my husband in the morning and came back

singing at the end of the day.



He loved this land and all that it took to work it.



He was eager to take a wife and begin a family of his own.



He never dreamed of far off places. or things that couldn't be..



But our youngest son did. and eventually we couldn't keep him home anymore.



He told me that he was going to ask his father for his inheritance and start

travelling..



I told him that Simon would never do it.



After all, he was the youngest son.. Not really entitled to much of anything

except a place in the family home.



But he persisted.. My goodness, once he got an idea in his head there was no

shaking it.



And he eventually wore my husband down, he sold some of our cattle and gave

him the money and said, "You are no longer my son."



When I heard those words, my heart broke. how could he no longer be our son.



I had carried him under my heart, nursed him from my breast. I could not

deny his existence.



I argued with Simon. my heart was breaking. but as the days and weeks and

months and years passed, I saw how Simon's heart was breaking too.



He never said anything to me. but he had a look in his eyes that told me how

much he missed hearing the music and laughter that Zachary brought into our

home..



He still worked in the fields and planned with Nathaniel and looked after

our tenants as he always did. but it was as if he was forcing himself to put

one foot in front of the other every day.



He was sad.



I knew Simon often waited by the gate of our property. looking down the road

as if he expected our son to appear one day.



He never told me that he did. but you know. a wife always knows.



He would come in and I could tell how troubled he was. he missed him.



Even though his daydreaming ways used to annoy him. and his music and

laughter when he was supposed to be working used to anger him.



But he missed him. and I watched my husband grow older and thinner. it was

as if he was diminishing before my very eyes.



It was hard. even though we still had so much to be thankful for.



Bountiful crops, family and neighbours who were there in times of joy and

celebration. and also who were there when the barn burned down.



Yahweh and the rituals of the temple.



But there was something missing in our world.



Our son. our youngest son.



I knew that my husband asked all the travellers if they had seen him..



But it seemed as if nobody had.



And as the days turned to months and years. we thought he was lost to us

forever.



We didn't speak his name. it was too painful. and still, we each whispered

his name in the quiet.



Be safe my child, be safe.



One day, I watched in secret as Simon stood by the gate. and I saw something

that I never expected to see!



My husband, a dignified elder of the temple. no longer a young man. running

down the road like a young gazelle!



He had picked up his robes and I could even see his bare feet as if he raced

down the road.



Feet flying faster than since he was a boy!



I didn't know what was going on.



And then. and then.. I saw a small figure off in the distance, dressed in

rags. and dirty and skinny. and I realized it was Zachary!



And Simon was running down the road to meet him. his arms were held wide

open. and he embraced him and wept. this time tears of joy..



Zachary knelt down in the dust and told his father how sinful he had been..

And he tried to tell his father that all he wanted was a place as one of the

hired hands.



But Simon would have none of that. he called for a servant to bring a robe

and sandals. and a ring that named him as one of our sons.



And called me to tell the servants to start preparing for a feast.



And we did.



But it seems that nothing is perfect.



Our eldest son heard music and laughter and asked one of the servants what

was going on.



When he found out that there was a celebration in honour of Zachary's

return. he became angry. and I think jealous.



He went to see his father and told him that it wasn't fair. that he had been

loyal and hard working all these years and he didn't even get a young goat

for a celebration with his friends.



But Zachary. for him, a prized fat calf was killed.



I think Nathaniel knew he was being unreasonable. after all, he had had his

father's trust and goodwill all his life. but still he didn't want to join

the celebration.



Simon tried to explain this to him. he said, "Son, you are always with me,

and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because

this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has

been found."



Lost and been found.



Dead and come back to life.



That is how I felt. a part of my heart had come back to life with the

appearance of Zachary.



I asked Nathaniel if he recalled how our scriptures told us to welcome the

stranger. how that God often came in the guise of a stranger.



If we could welcome a stranger, we could welcome a lost son back to our

home.



I don't think Nathaniel was convinced right away. but as the weeks and

months passed, he saw that Zachary wasn't trying to take Nathaniel's place.

in fact, he began to realize that he had missed Nathaniel too. that part of

his heart had been missing.



Your Christian scriptures call this the story of the Prodigal Son. but

really it is more about my husband. the welcome he gave, the love he poured

out. on both sons. a well that never will run dry.



I am an old woman now. and Simon is long since dead. but not before he saw

both of our boys get married and begin to raise their own families.



We still talk sometimes about the day Zachary came home.



We talk about the joy and celebration of all the family together.



We all learned something that day.



Now that Nathaniel has children of his own, he understands that a son or a

daughter is always a part of you. no matter what they have done or where

they have been.



Zachary learned that he got another chance.



My husband learned that his heart was stronger than his dignity.



And me, I learned that sorrow doesn't last forever. that which is lost can

be found again.



And I praise God for those lessons!

(Comments to Catherine at catherine_macdonald1@sympatico.ca.)

Claremont United Church

5052 Old Brock Road

Claremont, Ontario

L1Y 1B3

http://www.wondercafe.ca/churches/claremont-brougham