lost & found

There was a man who had two sons.  The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them.  "Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. Luke 15:11-13

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He was down to his last shekel and burned with unslakable desire.  He fingered the coin in his pocket and finally gave it to the prettiest girl he could find, a temple prostitute, for one final fling.  The girl he purchased was not like most of the prostitutes he had slept with.  There was a certain sweetness behind her brazen face and haughty look.  And for just a brief moment, he thought he saw her move with real grace rather than with the mincing steps of a prostitute.  She could have been a queen, he thought.

She led him by the hand to a dirty little room at the back of the shrine.  But as they stood opposite each other, something quite out of the ordinary happened.  They both took a step back, as though pulled a part by some unseen force, and sat down - he on a rickety old stool and she on the edge of the bed - and they began to talk.

Who was she?  Where was he from?   Their questions crossed and they both smiled.  Each saw in the other a stranger in whom they could confide and each had a story to tell!
The man started first,

He had been born into privilege but longed to see and experience the world.   He moved to the city and made 'friends' with the popular crowd.  He reveled in the freedom he found from the restraints his fathers fuddy-duddy religion had imposed on him.  But before long, his lust for wine and woman consumed his entire inheritance.  "It was no small amount!"  the man said, emphasizing to the girl, just how much he had been given.  But it was gone, he had no skills and had made all the wrong connections.  Every decent person in town avoided him.  Friendless and still filled with an empty ache, he decided to put an end to it all.  But not before he had spent his last shekel...  And that is what led him here.

And what about her? he asked.  More curious than ever about this girl who sat quietly listening to him and who seemed to be able to empathize with him.

She sat quietly for a while and then began, with great effort, to tell her story.

She was an orphan girl born to parents who were the scum of society.  They left her to die in a basket in a backstreet.  But in a turn of events that she cannot explain, she was provided for by .  She was given beautiful clothes to wear, fine jewelry, a warm bed made with real goose feathers - she looked down unconsciously at the bed she was sitting on - everything a girl could want.  As time went on, the love between them grew and they were engaged to be married.  "She was to be a queen!"  she said.  She looked up and her dark eyes flashed when said 'queen' as though to somehow convince the man that what she said was really true. The man just nodded his head.  Then her eyes returned to their downward gaze and she continued in tones just barely audible.  Just before the wedding, she met another man - a real scoundrel.  She left the king for that fat, ugly, old man.  After less than year, he left her and the child she had by him and now she was here.


Both sat there speechless, horrified by the tale the other told.  Neither could explain their actions.   There was no logic in it!  And they did not try to make any excuses.  Each saw in the other, just how far they had fallen.

"Look at me!" said the prostitute,  "I am a used woman and have thrown away my youth.  I have lost my only chance for love."

"And what about me!" said the prodigal, "My father gave me money that belonged to my grand father and my great grand father but I have spent it all in less than a year.  I cannot even remember how!  And what is worse, I have brought disgrace on my families name."

The realization of all that they had done; the moments of selfish, grasping pleasure, all the pain they had caused others, the emptiness; all of it overwhelmed them.  They had nothing more to say to each other, no words of comfort.  They just sat quietly until the rays of the sun no longer flooded through the opening in the ceiling of the shrine.  The room was almost dark before the girl finally got up and lit a lamp.  For the first time the man noticed that the room was filled with small statues.  Judging by their exaggerated features, they must have been idols of Aphrodite and Ishtar.  He had never really noticed how ugly and disfigured they looked until now.  He turned his attention to the girl, clearly visible now by the flickering light of the lamp.  He was startled by the change he saw.  Her heavy make-up had run and she looked a mess but the hardness in her face was gone.  It was as though at some point, while the room was still dark, she had removed a mask.   He began to feel a little self conscious.

As he and stood up to go, the girl took the shekel from a small cloth bag and returned it to him.
"Thank you," she said.

He was the first one to pay the price but resist her charms and now she thought he stood a little straighter.  He was still dressed in rags but behind all that, she saw a noble man.
"Maybe we will meet again!" she said to him.

I doubt it, he said with a sad smile.

He had a long journey ahead... and just one shekel left to return to his father.

So he got up and went to his father. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.  "The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.   "But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.  Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate.  For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'  Luke 15:20-24

And the girl?

Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.  And there I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.  Hosea 2:14-15 ESV

Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. Ezekiel 16:60