When he came to his senses, I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Luke 15
The road back to the Father’s house is long and hard. It is filled with doubt and despair. It depresses and decomposes. It works on every part of the human creation.
Physical, spiritual and emotional reconditioning requires one to address each area. When one leaves the Father’s house and goes into a far country. He is “aching for a breaking”. He may not end up feeding hogs but the pigpen will await. Living away from the Father’s house is not that easy. Some can drift for years and not reach the bottom. The time will come when all must face the ordeal of the Father’s house. What will is be then?
Rejuvenating one’s spiritual life involves at least these two things: 1) returning to God’s primary desire for my life, 2) listening for God. The prodigal remembered the father and listened for him. He followed that still small voice all the way from the pigpen to the Father’s house.
Sin can black out the Fathers’ will in our lives. Many can live with little or no attention to their true spiritual nature. The soul can be starving to death and the rest of the human creation seems to work okay. However, nothing will totally satisfy until we find our connection with the Father.
The man who knows his sins is greater than one who raises a dead man by his prayer. He who sighs and grieves within himself for an hour is greater than the one who teaches the entire universe. He who follows Christ, alone and contrite, is greater than one who enjoys the favor of crowds in churches. – St. Isaac the Syrian