Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Sick Pilgrim

Home
Catholic
Dark Devotional: Squandering Our Inheritance

Dark Devotional: Squandering Our Inheritance

Last updated on: March 21, 2019 at 2:17 pm by Guest Contributor

Dark Devotional: Squandering Our Inheritance 2019-03-21T14:17:16-05:00 Guest Contributor

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

This Sunday’s Gospel reading is the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

Several years ago, the pastor of a small ELCA church preached on this parable as I sat in the back and called on all my powers of invisibility. It was only my second visit, and I wasn’t sure what to think of this pastor and her congregation.

The pastor asked us which person from the parable we most identified with, and it stumped me.

I should identify strongly with the prodigal son. I left the church. I ran wild for a while, and it’s totally possible I hung out with some pigs somewhere in there. Eventually, I came back.

On the surface, it seems like the obvious choice, but I never accepted an inheritance from a generous father, and then squandered it. In my story, the “older brother” kicked me out of the house and tried to deny me that inheritance.

Those older brothers, man. If you don’t watch out, they’ll get ya.

I was never the heir who ran away. I was the heir in exile. I had to come back and demand my rightful inheritance.

The younger brother in the parable winds up taking care of some pigs after he runs out of money. Pigs can be dangerous. If they get hungry enough, they’ll straight up eat a person.

At least pigs are honest about it. Some brothers will devour you too, but we don’t like to talk about that.

Like the younger brother, I came home, but nobody draped me in the finest robes or gave me fancy rings or slaughtered a calf. Mostly, I got a lot of people telling me I was coming back by the wrong road, as if how I got home mattered more than getting there.

That older brother is still here, hanging around being resentful of people who don’t pretend to be perfect. He’s still whining about how he does everything right, so the Father should love him more.

He can’t see that his technically correct actions are hollow if he refuses to love his brother (or sister.) All the obedience in the world means nothing if he has no love or mercy in his heart.

Our inheritance is love. We squander love by suppressing it.

The self-importance of these older brothers drives them to disown their siblings. By disowning their siblings, they also disown their Father. The only people squandering their inheritance are rigid older brothers acting like faith bouncers as they take our beautiful inheritance and distort it into an excuse to fuel cruelty in the name of our Father.

They don’t get to decide who is and isn’t a child of God. They don’t have that authority.

Any of us who are still hanging on have to deal with them. Being in the church means putting up with these older brother types. Though, given the choice, I’d probably rather hang out with the pigs.

Kristy Burmeister is a former pastor’s kid, former southerner, and current inhabitant of the northern woods. She’s the author of Act Normal: Memoir of a Stumbling Block and blogs for Patheos at Way Station in the Wilderness.**

Previous Post

March 15, 2019

Dark Devotional: Un-Irished and Un-Catholiced on St. Patrick’s Day

Next Post

March 29, 2019 Dark Devotional: Fruit Grown from Ashes

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Advent Approaching Mystery art Book Reviews Catholic Ghost Story Catholicism community Confession Current Events Dark Devotional Deconstruction Deconstruction Fellow Travelers I Want To Believe Interview Laudato Si Lent Mary Matthew's Letters Movie Reviews Music Reviews Our Charism Personal Essay Pilgrims Pope Francis Popular Piety Prayer Publishing Richard Beck Saints Satan Sheed and Ward Sick Pilgrim Charism Sick Pilgrim Chats Sick Pilgrim Events Sick Pilgrim Travelin' Medicine Show Sick Pilgrimage to The West Sick Pilgrims Small Joys Spiritual Autobiography Spooky Files of Ave Maria Magazine Spooky October Spooky Pilgrim Spooky Pilgrimage Strange Journey The Inklings Things Keeping Us Going Trying to Say God TV Reviews Uncategorized women in the Catholic Church Wonder Podcast Write the Vision

Select a Month February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 October 2019 September 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was Paul's companion on his first missionary journey?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Silas Luke Barnabas Timothy