The Burdened Friend
Themes: Forgiveness, Companion to The Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32)
They had been friends for so long. Other friendships faded away, but theirs would last forever—or so they thought.
But they finally had a BIG disagreement. Well, it seemed like a BIG disagreement at the time and they said hurtful things to each other. It ended their friendship and one of the friends moved far away.
But the friend who moved away discovered that he now had a chain fastened to his ankle and at the end of the chain was a heavy metal ball. He tried to run from it but it followed along behind and really slowed him down.
When he got settled in his new town, he asked the new people he met if they knew how to get rid of the ball and chain. One said, “I will cut it off.” He brought over a big saw but he could not even make a scratch in the chain.
Another said, “I have an idea.” He stuck fire crackers in some of the holes in the chain. When lit, they made a lot of noise and sent up a lot of smoke. But, the chain was not damaged in the least.
A wise woman heard what happened and offered some advice, “There are only two who can help you with that chain. One is God and the other is the friend you hurt. Try your friend first.”
With that advice, he traveled back to where his old friend still lived. It took him so long to get there with that ball and chain. As he was approaching, his friend spotted him and began running toward him. They hugged. They jumped up and down together.
“Can you help me with this ball and chain?” said one to the other. “I am so sorry for what I said and I don’t even remember what our BIG disagreement was about.”
“I am sorry, too. Funny thing though: when you left, this large key appeared in my pocket and I didn’t know what it belonged to,” said the friend who had stayed in the original town. “But now I know.”
He took the key and unlocked the chain from the other’s ankle. He was free of the ball and chain! Again, they hugged and jumped into the air together. They both felt so light and full of energy now that they had worked things out.
The one friend moved back to his original town. The two lived close and remained good friends for the rest of their lives. But, when they did have small disagreements, they now knew how to apologize and forgive each other quickly.