It seems that without even planning it, the Parable of the Lost Son (or the Two Sons) from Luke 15 has become a story that I’ve played with quite a bit in recent years.
Rembrandt’s “Return of the Prodigal Son”
About 20 years ago I bought a set of slide transparencies from the UK based on Rembrandt’s famous painting of the lost son being embraced by his father. The slides focus on different parts of the painting – the father’s face, his hands, the son’s feet, his head, the older brother’s face, etc – before showing the full picture. The slide set came with some meditations on the biblibcal text and the painting. Henri Nouwen also has a little book of reflections on the text – The Return of the Prodigal Son.
I have used the slides (and later, digital versions) while reading the biblical text aloud, with pauses, along with the music Barber’s Adagio for Strings as a contemplation of the story. The method of seeing pieces of the picture and then the whole is a brilliant way to slowly unfold the scene. I’ve taugh this method in multimedia workshops (and also used the above experience as an example of multi-sensory worship experiences – we’ve reflected on how people focused on the spoken text, the music and the images).
DOWNLOAD REMBRANDT SCRIPT (PDF)
Lost Son Stations
You were seeking freedom
dreaming of adventure
a new start, a fresh opportunity
a welcoming place
but instead you find yourself
isolated, abandoned
separated from yesterday and tomorrow
stumbling in a landscape of regret
Back in 2010 I worked with Sandy Boyce and Pilgrim Uniting Church to host an Adelaide Fringe Art Installation curated by Cheryl Lawrie and friends with special guest Jonny Baker from the UK. It was a remarkable, immersive, multi-sensory experience that had a lot about journeying. As a kind of payback to Pilgrim for messing with their premises so much, I borrowed a bunch of stuff from the installations and created some Lost Son stations for one of their Sunday morning congregations. I also adapted several of Cheryl’s ideas.
These stations are written up in my book Deeper Water which you can order here, however there was more to them than I could fit into the book, particularly some of the arty bits that were created for the Fringe exhibition.
Come Home
Edited with Afterlight
I created this service for Blackwood Uniting Church in 2019. This little figure, about 30cm tall, was actually a candle holder but the top fell off. The theme of the service was “Come Home.” I had a series of images with the title, with a sequence moving towards home, then through the front door, and then a party scene.
In front of the communion table was a long table covered with pebbles, like a rough roadway, with the figurine standing at the end furthest from the communion table. As the story of the lost son was told throughout the service in parts, using Scripture and the reflections from Deeper Water, I slowly moved the figurine in steps towards th table.
I also passed around bowls with caraway seeds, and when we spoke of the lost son being rejected by his friends, and the bitterness that he felt, we chewed some seeds. I passed around little cups of salt, and when I talked about his tears on the road home, people were invited to taste some salt (an idea borrowed from Cheryl and co’s stations). When the son arrived home and there was a party, I passed around communion cups filled with apple juice and we had a toast! Of course it would have been great if it had been communion Sunday but it wasn’t.
Frank Wesley’s Lost Son
The next piece here is the amazing painting by Indian artist Frank Wesley. Frank is world famous for depicting biblical stories using Indian art forms. His work is featured in a number of books of Asian Christian art. I had admired his work for years, when in the mid-2010s I was at a committee meeting on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast when some friends said they were going to visit his wife Athalie. I was stunned to say the least to discover that Frank had married an Australian woman and that their family had been living in Nambour for decades until his death in 2002. (You must understand that I’m a Queenslander and my grandparents lived in nearby Caloundra – I’ve spent a LOT of time on the Sunshine Coast.)
We went to visit Athalie who was generous in her welcome. We saw dozens of Frank’s paintings and each bought a print of his wood carving of the Lost Son. It is large and amazing. Frank also made a painted version which can be seen here.
Part of this story is that Athalie Brown was a nurse who grew up in Meadows in South Australia, about 20 mins drive from where we now live. She went to India with Dr Geoff Pike to do medical mission work. Geoff is the brother of Rod Pike who is a member of Blackwood Church along with his wife Thelma. So when I displayed this print to the Blackwood congregation as part of the worship story I was able to tell the story which made a personal connection to their community. It was a very special moment.
BTW Cheryl Lawrie wrote a fantastic reflection based on this painting, “A Postscript To The Story Of The Prodigal Son”. It was published in a book of pocket liturgies called Hold This Space by Proost in 2008.
Welcome Me Back Home
The final episode is deeply saddening. Australian musician, songwriter and educator Paul Somerville passed away suddenly about a week ago. Paul was a remarkably gifted songwriter. In my work with the Centre for Music, Liturgy and the Arts last year we published a recording, made by Leigh Newton, of Paul’s wonderful song Welcome Me Back Home, based on the story of the lost son. The song is available in a music pack from the CMLA here, The lyrics are too close to home a those who know Paul remember him at this time. Here is a sample of the song. Vale, Paul. God welcomes you home.