It seems to be a given today that our society expects parents to have unconditional love for their children. It may be an unfair burden we place on our human nature and a reminder that God is in charge. The concept comes to us from the parable Jesus told of the return of the Prodigal second son, the gratitude his father had for his return, and the bestowing of gifts the father gave to the returning son. We need to remember this is a parable, and the way I read it, Jesus is talking about God’s unconditional love for us.
We have no idea why the son wanted to leave the father’s home, why he requested or demanded his share of the family fortune. We do know why he returned home, though, because he’d lived a lascivious life, squandered the money, was hungry, and regretted his sins against heaven. Maybe the father welcomed him home because during the time of the son’s absence he realized he’d treated him unfavorably, maybe he recognized in his son some of his own failings, maybe he’d lived with unimaginable guilt as to why he’d acceded to his son’s request when he knew he wasn’t ready to leave home. Whatever the reasons for the departure or the welcome, they were human reasons made possible by God’s unconditional love for both the father and the son; love that enabled the father to forgive and the son to repent.
We do the same denial of our human nature when we pretend we can eliminate fear. Fear, like anger, happens. It is an undeniable aspect of our genetic structure. It causes our body to produce chemicals that protect us as well as misguide us. Fear is. I would go so far as to say fear is God given. It reminds us how precious life is.
What this Bible passage may tell us is that it is OK to acknowledge fear as it is OK to acknowledge that one of our human inadequacies is to be capable of unconditional love however worthwhile the striving for it may be. Reassurance, though, comes from acknowledging that only God is capable of unconditional love. Knowing and trusting in the unconditional love God has for us is what will keep our feet from being caught, keep us going forward toward living the life God has in mind for us.
Pat Olson
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