There once lived a man whose business required him and his family to move from time to time not only within his own country but several others.   The man had two sons and a daughter, all of whom he was most proud and with whom he was delighted. 
     His older son, Daniel and his daughter, Ruth, worked hard and both of them had done well in school and at the University.   The older boy worked in his father’s business and helped him a great deal. The younger son, Rob, had never had to live in the hard times under which the family existed in its early days.   He had no concept of the value of either the dollar or the necessity to earn it and spend it wisely.
Our story begins as the youngest boy, Rob, goes off to attend the University.  Rob had learned so little of the things that he was supposed to learn in high school that the University insisted he go into a series of remedial courses so that he might begin the freshman year the next year.  In Rob’s words this was stuff and nonsense.  He therefore, spent most of his time, the initial year at the University, learning first to smoke marijuana, then to snort cocaine and ultimately to smoke crack. 
     The funds that his father had given him to attend four years at the University soon ran out, as crack is a very expensive drug.  He then convinced his father that he had come across a very fine business deal and needed several thousand dollars to get into this business.  These dollars were spent very quickly and Rob then asked his father for several thousand more to expand the imaginary business.
Rob’s father sent these funds for he was hoping that Rob would do as well as Daniel had been, and he wanted to give him every chance to achieve that success.  Perhaps without saying, Rob spent these funds on cocaine and was soon again without money.  This time Rob’s father became aware and disgusted and refused to have anything further to do with Rob or his lies.  
     Rob insisted that he could, as he always believed he could have, quit cocaine any time he wanted. After all, his “source” had always told him this was true.
A good friend of Rob’s believed Rob’s promise to quit.  The friend gave him a place to stay and allowed him to make a bed behind the couch in the friend’s home.  He told Rob that he would give him time to find a job that would enable him to rent an apartment on his own and then try to work his way up in business. Rob got a job washing cars and then used the money to buy more crack. 
The friend gave up!  And, the next time Rob came to sleep behind the couch he found the door key no longer worked.  Further, Rob’s sole possession, the bedroll, was laid just outside the door.  
Rob was now a street person, but he was still sure he could quit anytime he wanted to do so. He just didn’t want to. He met others in his situation and all of them felt the same way:  They just wanted to enjoy their youth and cocaine was a part of that.
     Months later Rob got the jolt of his life.  He went to his Grandmother’s house.  She had always been good for a meal and a little cash.  What’s more, he was always able to steel something of value while she wasn’t looking.  “And besides,” Rob asked himself, “She had always said these things would be his someday.  Why not now?  She would never miss them, anyway.”  The jolt came when Grandmother would not let Rob into her house.  Worse yet, she had put bars on the windows and told him the best she would do was to give him sandwich handed through the bars!
Are there any grandmothers here?  Can you even amagine how bad it would have to be to deny shelter to your own grandchild?
     “How could all of this have happened,” you may ask. “How could the intelligent and talented son of a rich man come to this state?”  
     Please let me explain what cocaine is all about:  There is an area of the human brain that causes various sensations to be felt whenever a corresponding emotion is in evidence. (And, vice versa) The emotion of love or deep appreciation causes a brain chemical called dopamine to be released.  Very small amounts of it cause the feelings one gets when observing a beautiful sunset.  More, perhaps, when one strokes his pet cat and hears her purr.  The amount is of course, greater when, for instance, one’s daughter hugs her father and says, “I love you Daddy.”   And very great, naturally, when one’s spouse brings to the union the fulfillment of the love of body and soul.  
Now, lets consider the physical effects of this last most potent of sensations.  The physical effect is caused by the release of about as much dopamine as would ever naturally occur.  We could liken this flow to that which happens if all of the dopamine were likened to a fluid being stored behind an earthen dam and a straw is poked through that dam.  When the straw is removed, a trickle would pour through. The hole would quickly be closed by earth collapsing within it like a mineshaft without supporting timbers.  The amount of the fluid that got through is analogous to the dopamine release during the body and soul emotion.  If cocaine is “snorted” the amount of dopamine released is analogous to the amount pouring through the dam if it were penetrated with a large caliber pistol.  The amount released by the smoking of a crack ampoule is analogous to firing a small cannon through it.
     One can imagine that the sensation of snorting a line of cocaine must be something one would never forget.  Indeed, Narcotics Anonymous sponsors generally agree that snorting just one line will cause about 50% of the population to become addicted to it.  In this case the addiction pattern usually begins with a party guest just trying it as a lark.  A month or so later he tries it again.  Then he looks for another chance in a couple of weeks. Following this, he or she begins buying the substance for first using just on weekends, then every evening, and finally whenever possible.
Once the snorting addict tries to stop he or she runs into a new problem.  They are not physically addicted to the drug, it is just that the memories of its affects are too strong to ignore.  This overpowering desire is often re-triggered, even months later, simply by the sight, for instance, of powdered sugar spilled on the table.
     The case with crack is much more sudden.  This cannon shot emotion is so strong that almost 100% are addicted after the first use.  The person’s life is almost immediately changed and within a few weeks crack becomes the only thing of importance in their life.  Such an individual will, like the snorting addict, deny even to him or herself that they could quit any time they wanted to, they just don’t want to.  
     Quitting either snorting or smoking cocaine is extremely difficult.  It is made even more difficult by the fact that the person’s dopamine supply is continually depleted.  This means that he or she can no longer enjoy the sunset, music, or even love of pet OR person.  They have become completely anhedonic.  The only joy such a person can get from life is through the use of cocaine. And, trying to teach or convince him or her otherwise is made almost impossible as the lack of dopamine cuts one’s attention span to as little as 10 seconds from the usual 50 to 60 minutes.  They simply cannot hear you unless they are on cocaine and then they don’t want to.

     Lets get back to Rob’s story.  
     Rob’s sister, Ruth, had kept track of him over the years through friends.  She had lived the kind of life every father would wish for his daughter, but unlike her father, she had not thrown Rob away.  When Ruth learned that her brother had come to such a horrible state, she asked a minister friend of hers to see if he could help.  The minister was a leader in an N.A. (Narcotics Anonymous) group.  
The minister talked with Rob during one of those rare 30 minute periods that cocaine addicts can and will listen.  He convinced Rob to come to a special hotel, a place where he could get help.  The next day he was placed in a charity hospital to help him get through the first week of withdrawal.  (This week is very important, as some would not survive withdrawal without it.)  Following this week Rob became a resident of the hotel and came under the wing of Tom, an older NA who had agreed to sponsor Rob.
     Rob was having a very difficult time, which Tom recognized.  Tom invited Rob to spend a weekend at Tom’s lake house.  Rob started the drive but almost stopped twice when he recognized crack dealers on the street.  He then remembered what Tom had told him, “When you feel you can’t go any further just remember to turn the problem over to God.”  The next thing Rob new he was pulling up in front of Tom’s lake house.  Rob could not remember anything between his begging God to take over his too heavy burden and his stopping at Tom’s
Rob knew God had accepted his plea.
     Over the next three months Rob remained sober.  He was able to see dealers in the street and ignore them.  What is just as important he was able to get a job and get promoted to a steward’s position in that short time?
When Ruth learned of this, she contacted her father.  He contacted Rob’s boss and asked him to send Rob on a special errand.  Now Rob had not had contact with his father for several years and had no idea where his father was.  Rob had no idea of the fact that his boss was running one of his father’s businesses.  All he knew was that the errand was to deliver an important package to the supervisor of a financially related business in another city.
When Rob reached supervisor, he was asked to go with the company driver on another errand. When the driver turned out to be Ruth they wept for Joy in each other’s arms for several minutes.  Rob still did not know that the real destination was their father’s home.
     When Rob and Ruth arrived, Rob was invited inside.  There he found a huge party was in progress.  Rob asked Ruth who the party was for.  “It is for you,” she smiled.  Rob then saw his father and his brother Daniel.  He stood back frightened.  He remembered he had been thrown out of another of his father’s homes.  He still could hear the words ringing in his ears:  “GET  OUT OF  HERE!  GET OUT  OF  HERE YOU LYING,  FAITHLESS,  THEVING,  EVIL  PERSON.   DON’T  LET  ME  EVER  SEE  YOUR  SATAN LIKE  FACE  AGAIN!! ‘
“GET  OUT  OF  HERE . . . .GET  OUT  OF HERE.”
      Rob was afraid this would happen again.  
What Rob didn’t know was what happened the minute he ran out of the house after hearing his father’s oath.  He did not know that his father had then begun sobbing and no one could quiet him for over a day.  Rod did not know that all of this time his father was praying to God for His forgiveness of them both and also beseaching God to lead Rob home again.

     Ruth knew of all of this and guessed that Rob’s next move would be to run and she blocked his way.  
Again Rob asked God for help, and again, the next thing he knew he was being hugged by his father who was, himself, weeping for joy at the return of his long lost son.  
In the evening that followed, Rob’s father explained that Ruth had told him of his decision to stay in recovery and his willingness to follow God’s way.  Rob’s father further told him that he wanted Rob to stay and work his way up in the family business and ultimately take a place of importance within the company.  Rob could hardly believe his ears.  Rob could only thank his father, and the Father, over and over again for their forgiveness.
There was only one thing that almost blighted the occasion.  Daniel went to his father and complained, “It’s not fair!  I have worked, and followed you and God all of these years, and now you welcome Rob back after all of the sloth and evil he has done.  It’s just not fair.”
     “Daniel,” his father quietly replied, “All of these years you have had a good life.  You have spent this time learning many things that will be useful to you all the rest of your life and then on into eternity.  However, you had lost a brother, and now he is returned to us.  Go welcome him home and help him to grow as you have grown, as any good, older brother should.” 
     Is it just possible that our Lord meant more than just that we learn from the Lord’s Prayer – that we should forgive others as we wish to be forgiven?  I think there is.
     You will remember that Christ told us that children reminded him of the Kingdom of Heaven.  Is this because there is a special unbreakable bond between a parent and his or her child? Remember, this is a bond that works in both directions. This bond is even spoken of in the 10 Commandments when we are told to Honor our Father and Mother.
 Sometimes this is very hard to do.  In the work of helping people to recover from drug and alcohol addiction, one often hears horror stories of children being beaten unmercifully or even maimed by a drunken parent.  The converse is also occasionally true when an older child beats or kills one or both of his parents in retribution for real or imagined offences.
 One must remember the father of the prodigal son.  In a fit of rage he drove his youngest son away.  In a way, he contributed to the delinquency of Rob.  There is no doubt that Rob deserved it, but think of the pain the father caused himself and the rest of the family.  Both were gravely in error.
 Perhaps the second moral of the story is that while the father is the head of the household, he has the responsibility to lead it.  His leadership was lacking for even though Daniel and Ruth became good, God Loving people, Rob did not.  Was there something more he could have done?
 Additionally, why was Rob unable to hear and understand these teachings?  Perhaps it is as He said in Mathew 13,  “There will be those who want to hear and see and simply cannot.”  
Only God knows why He has left it to us to do our best to help those who cannot see or hear.  However, this is one of the tasks  He has given us.
     But perhaps the most important  thing to be learned from this parable is that God loves us, His children, even more than any earthly parent could.  And, His forgiveness is total if we will only accept it.
There may be other lessons to be learned from this parable.  Please think about it every now and again.  I pray that He will allow us to hear and see anything else there is for us to learn from this or any of His other teachings.

In summary, let’s listen to this brief message from Tennesee Ernie Ford as he sings the new hymn,  "Others."