I have heard that statement, “Coming to oneself,” several times in the last few months, and prior to that, I seldom remember hearing it. Yet, the other day, someone quoted from the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:17): “And when he came to himself…” When I heard that quote, then I remembered the parable, and that statement very well. What a wonderful thought, as an awakening and/or a renewal or “coming to realize” that you have said or done something that is not really you. The idea that possibly you had been doing things in your life that were based on following another’s inappropriate lead. Then all of a sudden you realize that that behavior was not you, not representative of your family, not the way you were brought up to behave. Not something that you would have done on your own. It was something that you were doing to please others or to feel like you belong to a group outside of your family. Bill Murray said, “Everything happens for a reason. Sometimes the reason is that you’re stupid and make bad decisions.” That isn’t the nicest way to put it, but it is not far from the truth, and those who have been caught up in this kind of circumstance will readily admit it. I have heard many times the confession of repentant prodigals say, “It was just a stupid thing to do, and I should have known better” after they have experienced their behavior and realized it was actually distasteful to them. They have “come to themselves.” The parable of the Prodigal son is a great story, a story told by one of the greatest storytellers of all time, the Savior himself. You might say that you don’t relate to the story because you never asked your father for your inheritance and then left home and squandered all that was given you. That wasn’t what the Lord was trying to teach. He was trying to show how precious we are to the Father regardless of what we have done. Now we have come to ourselves and want to come back to Him. Most all of us have sinned, in fact the scriptures say, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” We all do inappropriate things and, in a sense, leave home, or our Father’s house, and His presence to live in the world and do worldly things. Some of us eventually “come to ourselves” and want to return to our Father and the good things that His home (Gospel) represent. The prodigal understood what his position would be when he returned home, regardless of his repentance and change of heart. “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.” The father would not hear of it; this was his son that he loved and wanted the best for.
We are unconditionally loved of the Father, and He would grant each of us a place in His kingdom, but He is bound by the principle of justice and must therefore judge us impartially. The older son who appeared jealous because of the attention the prodigal was getting was also very typical. He had always been faithful and yet the father had not killed a calf and made a feast in celebration of his faithfulness. Most all of us can relate to that, and we all would probably respond in a similar way. The father said to reassure this faithful son that his brother was lost and now is home and safe. Is that not an event to be happy and celebrate?
Then he reassured him that all that he has will be his because of his faithfulness. The prodigal had already received his inheritance and squandered it, and he knew that he would not receive more, but he was home, and he was safe and still his father’s son and a member of the family. There will always be a place at the table for him and a place to lay his head at night. What the father was trying to teach the faithful son was what Robert A. Heinlein stated: “One of the sanest, surest, and most generous joys of life comes from being happy over the good fortune of others.” His brother was safe and home after a terrible ordeal, and his brother, too, should have been glad that he was back and safe. The Father’s Plan of Salvation, progress etc. was not designed for the perfect but rather as a road map that we can follow to return to His presence one day. It wasn’t planned as an Interstate Highway perfectly smooth and as straight as the land would allow. Rather it was designed with all types of roads and even paths that we will be challenged by as we make our way forward. Sometimes we would even lose ground. Apostle Dallin H. Oaks described our sojourn on earth as an up and down effort. We move forward and upward, and from time to time we error (sin) and drop down a ways. Then we repent and get back on the straight and narrow and move up and forward. The way he described it our path will look like a Wall Street financial report in graph form. We will all experience circumstances where we will leave home and want to squander what we had been blessed with by our Father, and then we will “come to ourselves” and again get back on the path the Father designed for our progress. Someone has said you must search for yourself by yourself. Do not allow others to make your path for you. It is your road, and yours alone. Others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you.