Widow’s Wealth – A Parable

A widow had two sons. She gave each son half of her wealth to manage on her behalf. The youngest son listened to his mother’s advice and made good investment decisions that gained a good return. Unfortunately, the eldest son did his own thing and made some bad decisions, which led to a massive loss of her wealth.

The widow was really upset by her elder son. He was embarrassed by his mistakes, so he tended to avoid her, while he attempted to recover the wealth that he had lost. Unfortunately, everything that he did made the situation worse, so his shame increased. Worse still, the debt collectors were after him and wanted to throw him in prison.

The widow loved her son and was sad that he did not come to see her. She was sadder about that than she was about the loss of money. She had some strategies that would have worked for the younger son, which would have helped her older son do better, but shame prevented him from receiving them from her.

A Christian friend of the widow who was concerned about the barrier that had come between the mother and her eldest son organised for some gang members to beat up the younger son. He said that the punishment inflicted on the younger son would cover the sins of the elder son and break down the barrier so they could be at peace.

Her other friends said that beating up her young son to deal with her anger with the oldest son was illogical. According to the scriptures, punishing one person for the sins of another is unjust, even if he is a brother.

The widow said she was not angry with either son, just frustrated with her friends. She told her oldest son that she had already forgiven him. Once he finally accepted that truth, their relationship was restored, although the wealth never was.