Creating a map

The story of the prodigal son offers a unique perspective of God as Father, waiting at the gate for his rebellious son to return to his senses.

When the son, after squandering his inheritance, now hungry enough to envy the pigs their slop -- finally hungry enough to be humble -- returns home, his father throws a party.

The story found in the 15th chapter of the Gospel of Luke, has inspired many writers, preachers, songwriters and poets through the ages. The story shows us that God as Father understands that sometimes his children have to learn their lessons the hard way, and that this particular character trait (or flaw, if you're so inclined), isn't necessarily fatal.

Enter the Work Ethic Camp.

Shortly after Danny and I moved to McCook in 1997, the city was reeling from the decision by the Nebraska Board of Corrections that let the new state prison to Tecumseh rather than to McCook, even though McCook's overall scoring was higher than Tecumseh's. My brother's wife, Joyce, who then worked for the Iowa Department of Corrections, was of the opinion that by losing we were the true winners when Tecumseh "won." That state had opened a new correctional facility in a small town in Southwest Iowa (that bears no resemblance to the Work Ethic Camp) and the town itself was decimated by the changes.

What at first seemed like a consolation prize became, for a short period of time, the only glimmer of hope offered by any state's prison system when the WEC came to McCook and in the coming offered hundreds of young people a second chance, another look, a well-planned "do-over" before another crime dropped them so deeply into the system there could be little hope for their future.

Over the ensuing years, glimpses of "offenders" wielding shovels, rakes, hammers and nails, were visible everywhere. No one was offended. Our Habitat for Humanity homes have their imprint. Their help was invaluable when McCook Elementary was ready for occupancy, and several reporters, including yours truly, enjoyed helping some offenders chronicle their progress in the pages of this newspaper. To a person, each expressed gratitude for a second chance, a second look ... a different road.

Suddenly, the WEC has become a political tool to advance whatever agenda the legislature has before it, with Ernie Chambers now attaching a gay rights agenda to the latest permutation of its stated purpose. Already in a state of flux, now the WEC is in danger of losing a big part of its identity, and if it does, the real losers will be the offenders, who may never see that there are different roads ahead for them to choose from. Instead, they will remain trapped in cycles of poverty, drug abuse and crime, passing on the unenviable skill set so necessary for their survival to the next generation, and we all lose.

The prodigal son's story could have ended with an old man, eyes made bleary by years and tears, stooped with age, finally turning his back on the lane that leads home, heart broken forever for the son who was forfeit. Except that the son knew the way home. He knew about the different roads that we can all choose from to follow. Scripture tells us that "he came to his senses." He remembered who he was, where he came from, and knowing that gave him choices. He could either stay where he was, feeding seed pods to pigs, or he could turn his back on that bleak future and return to the father that loved him.

The son was willing to do whatever work was put before him, willing even to be treated as his father's servant if it meant he could change his life's trajectory. The choice was his to make.

But what if he didn't know he had choices? So many don't know, and if the legislature continues to use the WEC and its programs as a tool to advance their own agendas, too many won't ever know that these choices, these different roads, these different futures, even exist. Do the legislators see these faces when they look at the issues before them or do they only see today's balance sheet, today's "cause celeb" or their own political futures? Have they troubled themselves to seek out those who have completed the program, those who have benefited from it, those whose lives have been irrevocably changed for the better because of what they learned while working through the work ethic program?

These lives matter. Chains of poverty, drug abuse and crime can be broken, but only if those who wear these chains are given the tools necessary to break them.

The story of the prodigal has inspired many writers, preachers, songwriters and poets through the ages because it reveals that God is the God of second chances. One bad choice, even a whole string of bad choices, doesn't slam shut heaven's gate. Should we, God's crowning creation, do anything less?

"Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!" Matthew 18:7 (NAS)

I don't have all the answers, but I know and love the One who does. Let's walk in his love and discover him together.

Dawn