Great souls & rainbows

But while [the prodigal] was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. (Luke 15:20)

Great souls & rainbows 

We are called to greatness, everyone one of us, and every one of us can be great regardless of status or station, age or health, learning or lack.

True human greatness has nothing to do with how much money you make, how large your house is or how important others think you are. In fact, health and wealth can be the greatest obstacles.

The Spirit within our spirit draws us toward becoming magnanimous … great souls, which is the most literal sense of the word.

Great souls are large and embracing. They welcome life in its fullness, eager to love every moment, to see good and grace, beauty and wonder on days others merely slog through. They receive each day, however mundane, as a gift of grace in which something special will happen, something that will touch and fill your heart.

Great souls are expansive, with room for others to be themselves, and they are full of blessing. Having savored much of life’s fullness, they have much to give. They are rainbows in the gray skies of other lives, finding joy in every act and word of blessing they share.

The father of the prodigal son runs to greet his wayward child when he returns home from wasting his life. The old man enfolds him in his arms and holds him near.

This is a great soul, an embracing heart who has long ached for the moment of return when sadness becomes ecstasy to be shared in exultation with everyone near. The beloved has come home where he can touch and bless and let him know how precious he is … and always will be.

The father is the image of who God is … and of what we are to become. Becoming like the father, a great soul, is the final stage of spiritual growth. It takes a lifetime of love and longing, giving and receiving, enduring pain and disappointment … and believing that love never ends and is all that truly matters.

Pr. David L. Miller