Unfinished Stories

What do the story of the prodigal son and the Lady and the Tiger have in common? They are both unfinished stories. The power of an unfinished story is in how it draws the reader in, forces him to confront himself; examine his own responses and place himself in the story. For example, in the Lady and the tiger, the princess and the slave both have two possible responses. She, jealous of another loving her beloved, might indicate the tiger door or she might, loving her lover more than her jealousy, might indicate the door of the beautiful slave woman. He doubting the love of the princess, might choose the door opposite to her indication or he, fully confident of her love, might follow her inclined pillow. In either case, we, the readers, are confronted with the choices offered by love and the confidence in our own beloveds. In the so-called Prodigal Son story, Jesus leaves the response of the older son unknown. The younger son has squandered and returned. The older son has remained loyal but unloving, uncommitted to the Father who loves him just as dearly. He has not left home to return later and be welcomed home. He has stayed home but remains in a distant land from which he cannot be welcomed home until he knows he is in a distant land and until he knows that his father will welcome him home. We, the redeemed and unredeemed of this world, also live in an unfinished story. The chaos and confusion of life’s traumas and triumphs leave us breathless for the end of the story. Even we who know Him, know only in part how the story will truly end. We are all, either the older or younger son; we choose one door or the other. We can live in the grace of His free forgiveness and reconciliation or in the cold formalism of legality. We can respond to the princess’s nod with confidence in her love or with a cynic’s knowledgeable view of how things really work. Perhaps, knowing the true outcome of all, we could sit back and not worry about it, but these choices make for a happy healthy relationship with our Father and His Son or keeps us in alienation and restless resentment. As the other prodigal son and the slave-lover, the choice is mine and the choice is yours. 11/27/13 The Lady and the Tiger By Frank Stockton (1834-1902) http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/LadyTige.shtml