It’s so beautiful to be loved without conditions- it is the best form of freedom.
The desire of every one is to be loved unconditionally. As humans, we set rules and create boundaries such that if anyone is able to meet our rules within the boundary of what is acceptable to us, it’s easy to love that individual. A successful person has many friends and admirers; a beautiful girl attracts attention and the rich are well known in the city. Who wants to make friends with the poor, a thief or a prostitute? Just like the best things in life – sunshine, rainfall, family etc. – are free, so is unconditional love. Sometimes we fall in love for the wrong reasons or because of some selfish interests. We like to be friends to those with connections or fame. It’s easier to say ‘that Senator or Minister is my uncle’ than to say my father is a driver or farmer! Everybody needs love and appreciation irrespective of their low level or moral decadence in the society.
If you are in a position of power, it’s better to err on the side of love and forgiveness than on the side of judgment. How do I mean? So many years ago, there was only one kingdom ruled by a great king. He had the power to kill and make alive, and his kingdom was governed by some difficult and deadly laws. Some of the laws of the land were “Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, and foot for foot’. Another law was that ‘any woman caught in the act of adultery should be stoned to death.” Some years later, his heir took over the throne and his motto was “Mercy instead of judgment, and forgiveness for every sin against the law.” One day, as he was sitting on the throne, a woman caught in the very act of adultery was brought before him. The law as given by his father, the ‘great king’, demanded she be stoned to death. The woman’s accusers were bent on stoning her to death. He stepped down from the judgment throne to the level of the adulterous woman who was chained on the floor and trembling with fear, and wrote on the ground just beside her, “Yes, the law says any woman caught in the act of adultery should be stoned to death, but I have come in the authority of the lawgiver to improve upon what was written. She is no longer under the law but under grace. And that is the new law.”
So, he lifted up himself and said to them, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” He moved closer to her accusers, and again stooped down and wrote on the ground, “If you choose to remain under the law, stone her and wait for your turn to be stoned, but if you prefer the law of grace, then you are free from the law of sin and death.’ Each of the accusers being convicted by their own conscience, went away because there was none without sin.
When he was left alone with the adulterous woman, instead of tongue-lashing her, he sent the woman away with these words, “I do not condemn you, go and sin no more.”
In place of judgment and death, he showed the woman unconditional love and another opportunity to live a more worthy life. She went on to live and die a saint.
The most beautiful gift in the world is to be loved without conditions! Let’s heal the world and make it a better place with the heart of love.
Lessons: ‘All have sinned and fallen short of His glory’, still He loved us even to the death on the cross. Let us learn to love people unconditionally. Love they say is stronger than war.
