I've been contemplating the story known as the Prodigal Son in thinking about identity. Even though the son took what he believed to be his inheritance and left, and even though he squandered it... his true inheritance - his identity - was always his.
The son's identity never changed, because his true identity was not defined by what he chose to do with his money or where he laid his head at night. His true identity was given to him by his father.
If he had died naked in the pig stall, would he still be his father's son, or would he have succumbed to his own version of himself?
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