I just subscribed to the Substack, to I’m tardy in commenting.
Recently, I was reading an analysis of the Parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15 questioning the sincerity and depth of the prodigal's repentance before he is embraced by his father; I suppose our understanding depends on how we read "he came to himself" in verse 17, and that understanding may well hinge on our theological commitments.
After the son speaks to his father ("I am no more worthy to be called thy son"), he is royally dressed in ring, robe, and shoes, and (except for his older brother's accusations) disappears from the parable. He is absorbed into the plural pronoun: "They began to be merry."
Recently I've begun to think of Herbert’s "Love (III)" as a kind of gloss on the parable. The prodigal is ashamed to return home, but he has no other means of staying alive, just as the speaker in "Love" has entered from some necessity we don't know but feels unworthy to be there. Both are seen (the prodigal’s father sees him from afar, the equivalent of Herbert’s quick-eyed love) and welcomed without hesitation, both are invited to a feast, both accept the invitation.
Luke 15:20-24 – “his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.”
Herbert's poetry is always moving and beautiful. I have always loved this one; its demonstration of God's gracious and merciful love toward us, of His being the One who pursues and finds and draws us in, especially touched me this morning. Thanks for sharing it and for the commentary on his work as a whole.
I just subscribed to the Substack, to I’m tardy in commenting.
Recently, I was reading an analysis of the Parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15 questioning the sincerity and depth of the prodigal's repentance before he is embraced by his father; I suppose our understanding depends on how we read "he came to himself" in verse 17, and that understanding may well hinge on our theological commitments.
After the son speaks to his father ("I am no more worthy to be called thy son"), he is royally dressed in ring, robe, and shoes, and (except for his older brother's accusations) disappears from the parable. He is absorbed into the plural pronoun: "They began to be merry."
Recently I've begun to think of Herbert’s "Love (III)" as a kind of gloss on the parable. The prodigal is ashamed to return home, but he has no other means of staying alive, just as the speaker in "Love" has entered from some necessity we don't know but feels unworthy to be there. Both are seen (the prodigal’s father sees him from afar, the equivalent of Herbert’s quick-eyed love) and welcomed without hesitation, both are invited to a feast, both accept the invitation.
Luke 15:20-24 – “his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.”
Love always calls to its own.
Herbert's poetry is always moving and beautiful. I have always loved this one; its demonstration of God's gracious and merciful love toward us, of His being the One who pursues and finds and draws us in, especially touched me this morning. Thanks for sharing it and for the commentary on his work as a whole.