As an individual on a spiritual journey, I “know” up there in my little noggin that life is all about Love. No, not about the sappy love in romantic happily ever after movies. Life is about the Love you struggle with in the trenches; the love which makes you doubt you can ever truly be a person of love. Unconditional Love.
I think it would be easier to impulsively give my life for someone by rushing in to push him or her out of the way of a speeding car than it is to love, to have unconditional positive regard for people who say things so far away from my value system I want to puke.
If you’re a Christian you may be familiar with this quote which I thought was from Jesus (Luke 10:27). “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'”
I went back to read the quote and Jesus didn’t say it. Someone else said it when questioned by Jesus. Jesus responded, “You have responded correctly. Do this and you shall live.”
Loving in this way, with all my heart, soul and mind, is a rough one. I’m not very good at it. My mind wanders in ways contrary to love. My heart does the same. What ways I am able to love it takes all my strength to do so… and then I am not all that successful.
The Cost of Unconditional Love
The word “love” is bandied about in so many ways, some rather unlove-like, that it may be difficult to understand what Unconditional Love is. Another way of saying “unconditional love” is having unconditional positive regard for someone, for everyone.
How do we, how do I, have unconditional positive regard for the terrorists in San Bernadino, Planned Parenthood, Sandy Hook, Columbine, Paris? And those are the ones with guns.
How do I have unconditional positive regard for politicians and religious leaders of all sects who preach death to gays, let the refugees starve, children should be born but let’s not feed them and on and on and on.
Living Unconditional Love, unconditional positive regard, is not easy. There is a cost to it.
My personal cost is being confronted with with how much I fail in this area. Yes, I’m in favor of allowing refugees to come into this country. We’ve done it before and we have failed to do it before. How will I feel about it if one of these refugees kills or maims someone I love? How will I exemplify Unconditional Love then?
I know that if you have 100 people, any hundred people, there will be one or more who will do something harmful to another. There are violent people in every race, country, city, creed, sexual orientation, gender. How do I respond to the one who has done harm, especially if to me or someone I love?
What does Unconditional Love require? That I forgive? That I Love those who hate me? These are concepts found in Christianity and in a number of other creeds.
The problem with Unconditional Love is that I have to look at myself, my anger, my lack of love, whenever I am judging the man who killed people at Planned Parenthood, or San Bernadino or in the home invasion.
Love is the most difficult thing in the world to do. If it was easy, our families would be wonderful. The problem is we are wounded people. We have been wounded by other’s lack of love toward us and our own lack of love for ourselves and others.
We strive to be the Love from which we are, from which we were created, the Image and Likeness of God.
There are times we succeed. There are times we fail.
Can we love during those times? Can we have unconditional positive regard for those who speak and act in ways which abhorrent to us? Can I?
I want to know more. I want to know how I can take my wounded self and Love the Lord my God with my whole heart, mind and strength. I want to love my neighbor, not as I love myself, but as I want to be loved.
Amma is going to give some talks on Unconditional Love beginning December 15. All calls will be recorded if you are reading this after December of 2015. There will be healing for all at the end of each call.
Usually the offering of appreciation is $47 per call for these healing experiences. This is a 4 for 1 special. You’ll receive the entire series of $47… recordings also.
Click here and you’ll go to the registration page.