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"It sounds terrible," I cohed without much humor and shook his head "Before I’d been sent out on this little scouting trip, I’d been reading the parable about the prodigal son It’d ry for the son who stuck around and was faithful and then got pushed aside by his dad I thought I understood what Jesus was trying to teach with that parable I thought it was all about that Jesus loves the sinner not the sin, and that he will forgive us if ill just return to him and allow him to heal us And I knew all that was true, but I just kept thinking about hoasn’t right and it wasn’t fair, and the ‘good son’ didn’t deserve to be taken for granted I was even thinking that Jesus’ parable wasn’t the best exa the sinner back into the fold – that he could have used a better story to illustrate his point

"So here I aal son running through et approaching this entrance with two other– finally soine it? I’ ready to blow another guy’s head to kingdoot the orders to shoot to kill, and suddenlyIt’s hi it isn’t our guy, but I don’t stand down" Samuel’s voice and body were tense as he retold the story, and he shook his head aday overlook in a country far away

"I’er and suddenly, out of nowhere, a voice speaks todirectly into my ear"

Samuel paused, and all at once his face was drenched in e frantically – insisting it isn’t our guy The voice I heard wasn’t audible to anyone but me The voice said ‘How much owest thou untoakin to anguish – and although I didn’t quite understand what the question implied, I knew Samuel had understood, and waited for hiht He breathed deeply a few ti a little

"The story of the prodigal son isn’t just about the sins of the son that left and came back It’s about the sins of the faithful son as well" Sa for hihanistan, I was so wrapped up in everyone getting what they deserved, that I alet He could have been looking for his lost goat for all I know The thing is, what do any of us really deserve, Josie? What are we entitled to? The words that I heard that day ords from the very next parable Jesus teaches in the book of Luke about the unjust steward I’d read it right after I’d read the parable of the prodigal son – but I’d been so wrapped up in what I had perceived as injustice in the one parable, that I hadn’t really read the words in the next ‘How much owest thou unto my Lord?’ How much? How much do I owe? The truth is I can’t ever payto God There is no level of debtedness I am no less in debt than that man who almost lost his life at my hand The al brother We all owe Jesus Christ everything Yet at the end of the parable the father says lovingly to his angry son, ‘Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine’ Now that is love Two sons that were undeserving, both of theentle re I was – and saved me in spite of it That’s the day I really started to understand"

I unhooked my seatbelt and slid over next to Samuel on the wide bench seat I laid ht hand in both of mine We sat with tears in our eyes, hands clasped, beyond words for many miles

We arrived in Dilcon just before sundown It looked a lot like any other sns boasted Navajo rugs and jewelry – but it didn’t seeh the town and out again, traveling down roads without signs ora herd of sheep or an occasional double wide trailer I counted a few abandoned pick-up trucks I saw a hogan standing forlornly in theand pointed it out to Saan dies it is not lived in anymore Do you remember chidi? How the bad spirit remains? Whether you believe in chidi or not, respect for tradition just dictates that the hogan be left uninhabited to return to Mother Earth You’ll see abandoned hogans here and there Fewer and fewer Navajo live in hogans these days It’s justwater and electricity and teh Grandma Yazzie is definitely one of the down this road and up another until finally he bounced his way over uneven earth to a lonely hogan with an old pick-up truck that looked like Old Brown’s older brother parked out front A huge corral ly haphazard fashion to the north of the hogan At least a hundred sheep were confined within the enclosure The hogan faced east The door was open, and the deepening shadows of the setting sun created shade in the front where a little old woe wooden spool She didn’t rateful sigh of arrival as Samuel turned the key We stepped stiffly out our respective doors, and I held back as Samuel strode forward and picked the little wohtly in his arms Her wool and spools fell unheeded to her feet as she clasped hi back, patting his cheeks andI could not understand