Jesus' parable of the prodigal son is my favorite parable.See Luke 15:11-32 . The best part of it for me is that while the son is walking home, but is still a long way off, his father sees him, joyfully runs to meet him, and hugs and kisses him. And then he gives this son, who has wasted all his money on parties—another party (although doubtless quite a different sort from the parties his son had been used to)!
Thinking about all this has been a great comfort to me, knowing that I don't have to be totally perfect in my own eyes for God to be with me and delight in me. God loves me even if I seem to myself to be a long way off from Him/Her. God simply doesn't see me that way. God sees me as His perfect daughter, always with Him.
Some time ago I had been feeling quite unwell for days. I was also in a bad mood. It had persisted despite my reading the Christian Science Quartely's Bible Lesson for that week, which included that parable. I had studied it every day, but my mental and physical state seemed to be so far away from God that I just couldn't feel His presence.
