Everyone
has escaped or will feel the need to escape reality in some way. At the
beginning my military basic training, a young man suffered a grand mal epileptic
seizure. The medics took him away and we never saw him again. He thought he
could leave his medical issues at home, so he enlisted in the Air Force and ceased
taking his medications.
Making an all-out effort to escape dependence
on medication and a negative identity, he devised a plan that was doomed to
failure. The young man's denial encountered a harsh reality. Imagine returning home
and carrying the burden of shame and humiliation.
The young man in Jesus' story of the
prodigal son fostered fantasies that also would end in failure. When these fantasies
became contaminated with the stench of a hog pen, his ability to deal
constructively with that reality surfaced. Reality instilled in him
determination to go home and face his father who loved him. Acceptance of
reality activates God's help, so if the need exists, choose to return and renew
your relationship with him now.
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