I'm finding it difficult to get into a prodigal-son frame of mind when contemplating the return of Lord Black of Crossharbour to his birthland.
I know I am supposed to let bygones be bygones now he's done the crime and served his time - but there's a touch of arrogance about the man that blocks my "welcome home" embrace.
In the final days of his imprisonment in a Miami jail for fraud and obstruction of justice, major newspaper columnists and television commentators joined author Margaret Atwood's call for a warm homecoming for Conrad Black - as we called him before he gave up his Canadian citizenship for a red robe trimmed with white ermine and a lordly title.
I think we should give careful thought before too easily applying the forgiveness principle of the ancient parable to Conrad's tale.
When first told by a young preacher named Jesus, the parable did have forgiveness as a main theme - but it wasn't the only one. To earn the welcome-home banquet and the killing of the fatted calf, the "prodigal" had to display sincere signs of acknowledgement that past behaviour had sometimes strayed beyond the pale.
Readers who have not forgotten old Bible-class lessons will recall that in the original parable, the youngest of two brothers asked his father for early payment of any inheritance scheduled to be coming his way. When he received it, he packed his bag and headed for more exotic places than home "and squandered his wealth in wild living."
No suggestion here that Conrad Black squandered the vast fortune he built on his inherited financial foundation, although by all accounts he did live, dine and entertain with flourish. Unlike the lad in the parable, however, he didn't waste it all on wine, women and song.
He built on it, acquiring even greater wealth sometimes, so the courts decided, by less-than-honest means. Since he was first charged with fraud and obstruction of justice, Black has never ceased to protest his innocence. Throughout the lengthy trials, appeals and incarceration, he has acknowledged no wrongdoing. Even in the face of testimony and admissions by former associates that not all was done with transparent honesty, he held firm to his claim that it was the justice system at fault, never himself.
When the protagonist in the original parable came wandering home, he expressed remorse and said he was no longer worthy of membership in the family he once held dear but had rejected. He asked forgiveness for bad judgment calls and less-than-wise decisions, and said he would work as a humble servant if he could just come home.
Only then did the head of the family offer him new clothes and a place at table where the prized family calf would be the centrepiece of the welcome-home feast.
It's true Conrad Black doesn't need any new clothes, but he does come home with a somewhat tattered reputation. And it is also true that with enough money left in his personal treasury to buy herds of fatted calves, he doesn't have to apologize to anyone. But a little humility, to soften what comes through so often as arrogance, might help people feel more kindly toward him if and when he asks for return of one treasure he did squander - his Canadian citizenship.
It's just the piece of paper and an $80 passport he gave up for his red robe and title and I, for one, would find it easier to forgive and forget if I heard him say the price he paid for his lordship was too high.
My welcome-back to the Canadian family table would be a degree or two warmer still if I could hear him voice as he pulled up his chair the modest confession that not all of his decisions, personal or in business, had been perfect.
Lacking those relatively minor adjustments, and being reminded on an almost daily basis that despite the multimillions already paid out in legal fees and fines and with more pending, Lord Black of Crossharbour still owns several high-end properties in which to hang his lordly robes and lay his head, I'm delaying my wave of a welcome-home flag.
I'm not objecting to him living in Canada for a year as a temporary resident while he continues to sort things out. But I think he should be advised early not to re-apply for Canadian citizenship until he admits it wasn't his smartest move to put sceptre and crown before the Maple Leaf.
