A "Prodigal Uncle" Part I of II

I wrote this back in Dec 2005. I wanted to repost it because of the recent lost of my Grandma and Aunt (of which I will be writing about at a later time). It's a beautiful story of God's grace on a man's life and another wonderful story about my mom who burned with a passion that people may come to know the Lord.

The word “prodigal” is often associated with the parable of the prodigal son and it is often used to refer to someone who is presently lost in the world or of a runaway child (Luke 15:11-32). This of course is not what the word actually means. It literally means “wasteful,” usually in a monetary sense. So the prodigal son was wasteful of his parents’ money but returned home to a warm welcome, to say the least. The parable is about grace (although the word “grace” is not found in the passage, the concept of it is clear) and how God views us as His children.

Recently, my uncle Paul passed away because of cancer. He was fighting it for a couple of years and finally lost the battle. But that’s not the tragic part. The tragic part was that he was a “prodigal uncle”. Not so much in a monetary sense, although it certainly includes it. Throughout his entire life he was a raging alcoholic, irresponsible, and absolutely abusive, verbally and physically, towards family members.

He would stay with different family members until they just couldn’t stand him anymore and then send him off to other family members. As a kid I remember that he would pick on me. I tried to ameliorate the situation by keeping in mind that he is my uncle and that I should respect him. But his astringent remarks and treatment of me and other family members made it difficult. I guess what I’m saying is that he was not a nice guy. You know what . . . he was just a down right A-hole!

As the years passed, his lifestyle finally caught up to him as it eventually does with everyone who lives in such a way. About two years ago he was diagnosed with cancer and his body started to deteriorate. The doctors only gave him a few days to live at most.

After receiving the news, my mother went to Thailand to see him and shared the gospel with him. She was kind in her words and fervent in her prayers. Uncle Paul was deeply touched that someone would still care about him at this stage of his life. He received Christ and started miraculously regaining his health. Slowly he began to gain his weight back. For the first time in his life he realized that he was a terrible person and that he had racked up a great deal of sins against his account. On my last trip to Thailand, I was able to see him (2005).

Click here for Part II