Introduction

I was in the middle of my internship year as a Med/Peds resident at Vanderbilt when a friend gave me a copy of Henri Nouwen's The Return of the Prodigal Son. At the time I was stuck in a depressive cloud as a result of fatigue combined with intense feelings of inadequacy on multiple fronts in my life. Nouwen's description of his encounter with Rembrandt's painting and his subsequent journey through the biblical story of the prodigal son spoke to me deeply. I came to understand that I, like Nouwen and like the young man in the parable, had long taken the skills and talents God has given me and presented them to the world in search of finding identity and recognition, only to find that when those skills and talents were no longer enough to impress those I sought recognition from I was left standing in a cold, lonely place with a vivid realization that I had labored in vain to seek the approval of men for far too long. The ongoing process of surrendering my pride and returning to the merciful embrace of a loving Father has been a sweet homecoming, though not always easy and not without a persistent and paradoxical tendency to look back longingly at a way of living that I know ultimately promises only emptiness. I am coming to know that I dwell in a sea of grace the depths of which I will never fully comprehend and that promises excitement and wonder and adventure and awe if only I purpose to seek out the treasures it holds rather than dwelling on self and my comparative insignificance in its vast glory.