Sometimes when I hear familiar passages from the Gospels, I think we've got it all wrong. For example, take the story of the Prodigal Son. It seems pretty straightforward. Squander your livelihood, and you'll end up crawling back begging for forgiveness.
Yet, I do not think that is the real interpretation we should get. The story is really about each one of us, how God gives us an inheritance and sets us free to follow the desires of our hearts. The message is not sinner come crawling home, but God who understands. For who who of us, in our efforts at life, gets it right the first time? If the prodigal had not gone away and seen life from a different perspective, he would never have come to really know his father. Knowing that father took the honestly of acknowledging he'd made a mistake. And as the story so dramatically portrays, the Father didn't love him less for that, but more.
I sometimes think our tidied up religion keeps us from seeing the reality of life. We cannot live within a structure that keeps us from all harm. That isn't living; that is slavery. To venture forth means to deal with life as it really is, without pretense or false virtue. We will be robbed, we will be a victim at some point, and we will also betray our own best selves. But that is not the end of story (like time now to crawl back and beg). That is part of our journey.
I know only too many who, for fear of making a mistake, continue in a false life, where expectations can be met, and no surprise will throw them off guard. Yet, they are the most unhappy people I know.
The prodigal son took a chance at life. And in the end, he grew. What am I willing to chance for spiritual growth?
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