The Prodigal Son - Rembrants Painting

I have had a little obsession with the prodigal son lately and as hard as I try, I can't seem to shake it as it seems to come up in different contexts. I originally used the parable to explain something that happened in December with the focus being on the son's return home and how we, just like God, should open our arms and forgive past events. A book then appeared at our adoration chapel in January that was titled "The Prodigal Son". The book focuses mainly on Rembrandt's painting "the Prodigal Son" and the characters that appear in it. Curiosity got the best of me and i picked it up and started reading. You see, lately, may of the blogs I read have put out pretty strong Christian calls to aid orphans in distress. I have seen horrible and terrifying photos of special needs children institutionalized, chained to bed, starving. God's children, neglected and in need. As the book points out, however, it is much easier to see the failures of the younger son in spending his fathers wealth and living a life of sin and his return seeking forgiveness than the elder's failures. The fact is, many people don't know or haven't seen what life is like for a child confined to an institution and so, as it is, it can be said, "I didn't know, I'm sorry, I should have done something" as the younger son. I see myself at the elder son whose failure is much more difficult to put a finger on. Outwardly, I have been faithful and dedicated to God's will in my life, making the choice to raise 4 beautiful kids over material things. The quote in the book that got me, however, was "Whenever my virtuous self is there, there also is the resentful complainer". Yes, me, the resentful complainer, the one that looks at all the expensive cars in our church parking lot and wonders where their treasure truly lies, the one that judges families whose first priority in their adoption is to have the youngest and healthiest infant available, never giving the children that have been waiting a second look, when we were, ourselves, at one time more focused on how many countries we could travel to rather than how many needy families we could sponsor and were in fact that same family that wanted a young healthy baby for our first adoption. In many ways, through my life journey, I have traveled beyond that "me" mentality, but in many ways, I have so far to go in accepting God's plan for my life and not complaining about how I see others not following God's plan or being resentful of choices they have made. God gave us free will, and each of us alone will have to explain what we did with that free will. I would rather not have to explain why I became a resentful complainer when there is so much good in my life.