"The parable of 'the prodigal son,'" Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, writes in "Retrospection and Introspection" (p. 91), "is rightly called 'the pearl of parables.'" The different aspects which are portrayed in the life of the wayward, pleasure-seeking son and the forgiving father, as set forth in this story, offer a wealth of meaning to students of the Scriptures.
One cannot help observing the noteworthy wisdom and strength of the father. He gave to the younger son, upon his request, the portion of goods considered his share, but he also, at the same time, gave impartially to the elder one likewise. When the younger son left his father's home, seeking gratification for his worldliness, the father's thought did not pursue him with bewailing or condemnation. However, when worldly lusts had failed to satisfy and the humbled, repentant son arose from self-inflicted want and woe and actively turned homeward, the father speedily went to meet him. As stated in the Biblical account, "When he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him."
Are we able, in similar instances, to discern the penitent thought, willing to meet it on the way, to forgive and forget; or do we, with questioning delay, stand off waiting for evidence of complete and tried regeneration, before we open our hearts and hands with loving solicitude?
