The Book

DISCIPLE PUBLISHING COMPANY

THE BOOK: INTRODUCTION * POEMS * TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE BOOK: INTRODUCTION, Page 1

As indicated by the book’s title, my life’s story is analogous to that of the biblical character portrayed in the gospel of Luke, Chapter 15, verses 10-32. In the text, the Lord begins the parable “Likewise, I say unto you,there is joy in the presence of angels of God over one sinner that repents.”[1] He, then, proceeds to tell the story of a wealthy Jewish man, who had two sons. The younger of the two, the prodigal son, succumbing to the seductive tug of the world, persuades their father to divide up his sons’ inheritance and to distribute their portion to them while the father was still alive.

With his fortune in hand, the young prodigal sets out on an odyssey to a far away land, and as one might suspect, as long as his treasure remained in tact, he was surrounded with many “friends”. Enjoying the “good life,” he reveled in the earthly pleasures that the world has to offer: expensive clothes, seductive women, the finest of wines, and nonstop partying.

According to the text, not much time had elapsed since the young man had acquired his wealth and departed on his journey, when a famine came upon the land. Reckless and irresponsible, the prodigal son consumed all of his possessions on riotous living and was then forced to face some of life’s harsh realities. Penniless, homeless, and friendless, the prodigal son, in an act of desperation, hired himself out as a farm laborer to attend swine. He had hit rock bottom. He was only able to sustain himself by eating the corn husks that were used to feed the hogs. For a Jew, religious laws not only forbid eating pork, but also prohibit any contact with swine.

One day as the young man trudged through the mud of the pig sty, reeking with the stench of animal dung, it occurred to him that even his father’s servants were living much better than he was. Life having stripped him of his youthful pride and hubris, he made the decision to return home and to beg his father’s forgiveness.

As he neared his father’s estate, “the father saw him from afar and had compassion on him and fell on his neck (embraced him) and kissed him.”[2] In the embrace of his father, the tearful young man poured out his heart and lamented, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and I am no more worthy to be called thy son.”[3] And in a spirit of redeeming grace and redemptive love, the father shouted out to his servants,

Bring forth the best robe and put it on him [my son]

And put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet;

And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it;

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¹ The Bible, New Testament, King James Version, the World Publishing Company, NY

² Luke 15:20

³ Luke 15:21