The story of the Prodigal Son is, far and away, my favorite of Jesus’ stories. I love the fall and the rise of it, the way the metaphor mirrors our lives. In high school, my AOL IM name was “prodigalfall.” Probably still is, now that I think about it. I have not logged on in quite some time.

Today, I saw a herd of wild pigs and a number of little boys picking through the same trash pile, looking for food.

Out here, some parts of that story are not a metaphor at all.