Prodigal Kindness

Prodigal Kindness

The word prodigal is a funny one. I’d always thought of it as an unflattering adjective, as in the Prodigal Son: the spendthrift, the high roller, the squanderer. But it has another nuance. It can also mean lavish, exuberant, profuse, opulent, or luxuriant.

I can testify to the surprise and delight of unexpected prodigal kindness. I attended a fund-raising luncheon that featured a well-known speaker, a lovely meal at a table full of friends, and a silent auction with some of the most amazing needlepoint items imaginable. (Seriously—who knew cuff bracelets, Christmas ornaments, and a full standing Nativity set were stitchable?)

Before the luncheon began, I spotted a friend whose contribution to the auction was a tiny blue Tiffany box ornament, beautifully stitched and finished with a small beaded clasp. It even opened! I told her that my oldest niece just a few weeks ago had received a similar box (with an engagement ring inside), and I thought she might like the needlepoint version quite a lot. I jotted down a quick bid, but it was early, and I never made it back to the table to rebid.

On the way out of the event, I spotted my friend again. “I bid,” I told her, “but I didn’t get it.” Then she held out to me a bag containing the ornament she’d made: “Oh, yes, you did,” she said. “It’s yours.”

Prodigal kindness. She purchased her own offering and gave it to me. I didn’t win it, deserve it, or pay for it. She did. Twice. First with her time and then with her love. But her gift didn’t end there. The cause we’d both come to support received her over-the-top kindness, and a half hour later so did my niece, when I drove to her office and handed her the little blue box, along with the story of how it was given to me.

You see where this is going, right?

This was not the first time I’ve been the recipient of such outlandish, prodigal kindness. Not the first time, thankfully, I’ve received what I did not earn.

God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.

Ephesians 2:4-5, ESV