Reflection for Lent 4 – A very merry unbirthday to you
Then the father said to him, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.” (Luke 15:31-32)
This section from the parable of the prodigal son in Luke’s gospel reminded me of the un-birthday. When Alice (in Wonderland) stumbles across the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party she is told they are celebrating the unbirthday:
A very merry unbirthday
To me?
To you
A very merry unbirthday
For me?
For you
Now blow the candle out, my dear
And make your wish come true
A very merry unbirthday to you
David Mack / Hoffman Al / Livingston Jerry
It’s explained to Alice that the ‘unbirthday’ is the day of the year that IS NOT your birthday – in other words 364 days of the year! So counting one’s own birthday, this means that every single day of the year is a party!
In Luke’s parable, the obedient and ‘good’ son is jealous and resentful that his father is holding a great feast to celebrate the return of the black sheep of the family - his brother. The father has behaved with wild inappropriateness; firstly by rushing down the driveway to greet the returning son with wide open arms; secondly demanding that the servants bring fresh water and clothes for the dirty and ragged man; and thirdly ordering a huge feast for all to celebrate his son’s return.
When asked by the ‘good and obedient’ son why HE has never been allowed to give such a feast for his friends, the father appears astonished. Because whatever the father has, this good son also has – every day has been a cause for celebration for the good son in being with his father. Every day has been an unbirthday for the good and obedient son! The returning son has been lost in a world that did not recognise the joy and grace of every day –lost in a world where good times could only be had at the expense of goods and services. Which ran out as quickly as the son’s inheritance ran out, reducing him to poverty and enslavement.
It might be a bit of a stretch to imagine our God, or Christ as the Mad Hatter, but Lewis Carroll’s tale makes me wonder what life would be like where people celebrated the presence of each other every single day with the grace of the wildly inappropriate father!
So, a happy unbirthday to you and a happy unbirthday to me?
Blessings
Ceri
