|
Unconditional
Love
(A healing balm for the broken hearted)
- Fidelis C. Odogbo
A story is told about a soldier who was finally coming home after having fought in Vietnam. He called his parents from San Francisco. "Mom and Dad, I'm coming home, but I've a favor to ask. I have a friend I'd like to bring home with me."
"Sure," they replied, "we would love to meet him." "There's something you should know,” the son continued; "he was hurt pretty badly in the fighting. He stepped on a land mine and lost an arm and a leg. He has nowhere else to go, and I want him to come live with us." "I'm sorry to hear that, son. Maybe we can help him find somewhere to live." "No, Mom and Dad, I want him to live with us." "Son," said the father, "you don't know what you're asking. Someone with such a handicap would be a terrible burden on us. We have our own lives to live, and we can't let something like this interfere with our lives. I think you should just come home and forget about this guy. He'll find a way to live on his own."
At that point, the son hung up the phone. The parents heard nothing more from him. A few days later, however, they received a call from the San Francisco police. Their son had died after falling from a building, they were told. The police believed it was suicide. The grief-stricken parents flew to San Francisco and were taken to the city morgue to identify the body of their son. They recognized him, but to their horror they also discovered something they didn't know. Their son had only one arm and one leg.
The parents in this story are like many of us. We find it easy to love those who are good-looking or fun to have around, but we dislike and avoid people who inconvenience us or make us feel uncomfortable because of their frailty or incapability, which happened upon them at birth or a misfortune in life. We would rather stay away from people who aren't as beautiful, smart or educated as we are. And leave them to grope in their misery and obscurity, neglecting the yearnings of their hearts to stick with people who can teach them the basics of life.
We have made life so sophisticated nowadays by carving out niches for ourselves and clusters that entertain only a certain ‘class’ of people, so that anyone who does not meet our standard belongs no-where and is treated with absolute disdain and sheer flippancy, because he or she lacks the ingredients needed to contribute immensely to a more competitive world where only the fittest thrive.
The people that is hurting in one way or the other need to be loved. They deserve the love that gives and expect nothing in return. Consider the children that were displaced or separated from their parents due to calamity or the upheavals of nature; the tsunami that struck in some Asian countries, the hurricane Katrina in some states of America, the earthquake that hit Pakistan, the July-August war in Lebanon when Israeli military force locked horns with Hezbollah, and the Palestinian children who watched helplessly as their dying parents struggle for their last breaths. Think about those who are deformed today because of complications at birth; the blind, deaf, and dumb. The mentally retarded, low income earners and non-achievers. They deserve the best in life- to be loved unconditionally. It heals the wounded spirit, gives light to a heart that is clouded with darkness and lifts up the downtrodden.
Karl Menninger said, "Love cures people - both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it. This intangible thing called love...enters into every therapeutic relationship. It is an element which finds and heals, which comforts and restores, which works what we have to call for now, miracles." Martin Luther Jr said; “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”
I believe that the greatest need of the human soul is to experience the feeling and sweetness of love that pours out graciously from a generous heart, whose volition is exercised without hidden motives. Everyone loves to be loved unconditionally. A child needs love more than anything that can satisfy his hungry stomach
April,
2007
Respond
to this Article/Story or leave comment
***************************************************
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Fidelis Odogbo is a freelance writer. A motivational and inspirational speaker, a child/youth worker and a counselor on life matters. He is a preacher/teacher of God’s word and has over the years authored several articles on the Qatar Daily English Newspaper- ‘The Peninsula’. He is a Nigerian and currently live and work in Qatar. |
|
.
