You can find anything on Amazon. or pretty close. I found the picture with this blog when I searched for intertwined hearts. Apparently there’s even a person who will create heart shaped horseshoes for a price. Kind of cool. But that’s not what I was thinking of. I am thinking of the narrative in Luke often called the prodigal son. The story is well known, and you may think you ‘get it’. But maybe not. Because the narrative of the Prodigal son found in Luke 15 is layered with love. It is a story of a family, like so many. The story in Luke 15 actually begins with two short stories about a lost coin, and a lost sheep. The point in both stories, is that once lost, the one who really needs or is connected to the lost one will continue to search until they are found. But then, the chapter moves. The story begins to tell about a young man who asked his father for his future inheritance – NOW. And the father gave it. As you might expect, the young man spent it all, and then, there was a famine in the land. No work. No food. He finally finds work feeding pigs far away from home. But he has a moment of realization. Things would be better back home. Even though he messed up. So he goes home.
Maybe you remember all this from the story. You remember as a child in sunday school thinking about your own sinfulness, and willfullness, and realizing that this boy had messed up – and needed to repent.
But there is more. The father. The father sees the boy coming home from a long way off. You know what that means? He was looking! He was waiting. His love never failed. And so he ran to the son and gave him a ring, and a robe, and a party. Hooray!
But then the older brother has his say. He is jealous. No other word for it. His father throws a party for the brother who blew it, but the older brother feels forgotten, overlooked. He yearns for the love he sees in his father’s actions toward his brother.
But the father is aghast. He has always loved this son. All he has belongs to him. Rejoice with me, he says. For your brother who was lost is found.
These hearts are intertwined. Even if they seem made out of iron horseshoes sometimes. There is love in each heart, there is foolishness too. But the love remains.
Next time you feel a distance in your love relationships, read Luke 15, won’t you? These folks love each other. Their hearts are intertwined. But sometimes they have to get out of their own way in order to show it.
God bless you. God loves you. I know it is true. Amen.
Pastor Patricia (join us at church on Sunday, March 31, as we explore even more about this passage, won’t you? 1998 Lansing Ave NE, Salem, Or 97301 Holy Cross Lutheran Church. )