Re-imagining the parables

Young Chang

You think you know what the parable of the prodigal son is about,

but if you read it the way Dom Garino does, you might realize there’s

more to know.

Same with the Bible parable of the good Samaritan and the one

about the laborers in the vineyard.

Garino, a Bible study leader at St. Mark Presbyterian Church in

Newport Beach, teaches an ongoing course every Monday titled

“Re-Imagine the World -- An Introduction to the Parables of Jesus.”

The class’ name actually derives from Bernard Brandon Scott’s book

of the same title. Scott, a well-respected biblical scholar, analyzes

and interprets the parables in the Bible using literary, structural

and historical criticism. Garino has studied with Scott.

Garino said Scott tries to help get his readers into the shoes of

Jesus’ original audience.

“Remember, we’re hearing this with our western ears in 2002,”

Garino said of the parables. “What Brandon Scott helps people do is

look at what was the parable about at the time and how radical was

it?”

Take the story of the prodigal son. It’s about a father with two

sons -- one’s a wastrel, the other isn’t. The bad one basically runs

away and then returns. The father welcomes him with open arms and

throws a party to celebrate. The righteous older brother gets

resentful, wondering why his sibling got a party instead of

punishment.

Through his course, Garino points out that there are three ways to

identify with this story. The reader could relate to the father, the

younger son or the jealous brother.

If you step into the father’s shoes, Garino will tell you that men

in biblical times, especially older men, didn’t run. To do so would

have required hiking up the robe a bit, to not trip over it. To show

legs and run was considered a shameful thing.

“Knowing some of the history of this helps you appreciate the

depth of compassion,” Garino said.

He also brings in other art forms that are relevant to the parable

being studied. Last week, Garino used Rembrandt’s oil painting “The

Return of the Prodigal Son.”

“It expands our understanding into experiencing Scripture as well

and [Garino] leads us so we can identify with the good, the bad and

the ugly, ‘cause we’re all each some of that in varying degrees,”

said St. Mark member Wendy Depko.

The class started two weeks ago and will continue indefinitely

depending on student response. With 40 parables in the Bible, it’s

unlikely they’ll run out of ground to cover.

About eight to 10 people attend each class. Often they’re not the

same batch. Lois Butler, a member of St. Mark who has participated in

Garino’s course, says she appreciates learning even what a shekel

might have been worth back then. That sort of context helps her

better understand the messages of each parable.

“I’ve seen depths in it that I have not seen before,” Butler said.

Garino noted that people who study the parables find the

interpretations challenging and different from the what they learned

as kids.

“I’m 58-years-old,” he said. “I’ve been knocked about by life with

different things, and I certainly look at the [parables] differently

now than when I read them when I was 10.”