Paul Harvey had a radio show called “The Rest of the Story.” He would start with news that was known and ended with the facts or persons in the story that were not so well known.  I have always thought that the story of the prodigal son was incomplete, especially regarding the older brother.. The older brother showed up to find a father grandly and excessively celebrating the son who was so bad and so wasteful in his life. The story stops after the older son was offended and was confronted by his dad, saying the lost was found. 

My prodigal son story didn’t end there. I have an older brother. He watched my father sacrifice so much of his attention on to me when I was sickly and when I was horrible. I consumed much of the energy that dad should have spent on my brother and other family members. My behavior became so bad that my father had to remove me from the family and the family inheritance. I was notified through letters from my dad and his lawyer. It was a grievous time for all of us. I was bitter, and my family was hurt. I was eating the fruit of a history of bad choices. They had to eat some of that fruit with me.

The Lord turned my life around and upside down from what it was. I had found repentance, life, and hope in Him. I wanted to, and worked to, become the person I could be instead of the person I had been. My life change became evident after a time. I became employed, sober, engaged to my wife, and active in the church where I received counseling and assistance crucial to God’s work in my life. I am grateful for God’s appointed counselor and His community. Dad contacted me as he learned about the change and gave me another chance. I would say second chance because it is the normal phrase, but we had long passed second chance. I’m sure we were in the three or four digit range, easily. 

My war with dad had injured all of the family as well. My older brother was one of those who was injured. He had suffered loss as I had betrayed my family values, my family, and myself. He had watched as I had used up every bit of other people’s help and wasted it on the bad life I continued to live with vindictive determination. He saw my return. Had I been him, I would have been highly suspect and considered my return a design to further abuse those who were willing to sacrifice and love me when I neither deserved it, nor was I likely to respect it. Had I been him, I would have resisted all attempts to have me return to the family. I am glad that I am not him because he was much better.

This is where the story continues from the one in scripture. My brother forgave me and became the person I trust for true leadership and advice. He openly confided his hurt to me and his forgiveness. He has proven his forgiveness many times. I think I have always been an inconvenient person. Add that to the injuries I provided before my growth in Christ, and you have a reason to avoid, not embrace. Yet, in the early years of my marriage, when my wife and I were dead broke, we would go to my brother’s house for a weekend’s rest and a few fabulous meals with my brother’s family who totally took us in.

My father died. The family went through his possessions. My brother determined that I should be given dad’s second wedding band, which should have gone to him. I was embarrassed, when my mom died, to consider receiving anything from my family because of who I had been and what I had done. My brother was the one who talked me into receiving it with open arms because they wanted it, and I had changed. He led me through a stage of self forgiveness, which I had put off.

I love the scripture story of the prodigal son, but I love the way God worked it into my life even better. I am grateful for the courage of the hurt to embrace, love, and forgive the prodigal. I am grateful for the strength and wisdom of older brothers whose love is stronger than their hurt and manifest a true example of Christian love and forgiveness. And that is “The Rest of the Story.”