During the season of Lent, various members of Trinity’s community will share what has nurtured their faith during their life’s journey. This week, we hear from Mark.
For the last few years, I’ve been consumed with CS Lewis’ The Great Divorce. Lewis’ depictions of Heaven and Hell are so practical and play out in our daily interactions with one another. The characters and stories both inspire me, and quite frankly haunt me.
One encounter is illustrated in chapter 4, when a man encounters a heavenly figure on the road to Heaven. It turns out this heavenly figure was a murderer and the other a self-described righteous man. The irony is the murderer, who has embraced his redemption, is to help the self-righteous man understand the ways of Heaven. However, the self-righteous man is insulted by this requirement and states “I’d rather be damned than go along with you”.
This past week, my oldest son, Luke, and I were talking through the Lenten youth study questions and were talking about the “Parable of the Prodigal Son”. A question is posed why this parable is sometimes described as the “Parable of the Two Lost Sons”. We explored together how each son could be “lost”, including the more responsible and dutiful older brother. Luke thoughtfully replied, “He is lost in his jealousy”.
Both instances challenge my view of God’s love and force me to wonder if my faith is big enough. When I feel like the prodigal son, this is a relief. But when I feel like the older brother, this is challenging. Either way---my faith is forced to grow when dealing with the truth. - Mark