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Tag Archives: Unconditional Love

Love Flows First . .

18 Thursday May 2017

Posted by Cheryl Ries in Blessings, Family, God, Gratitude, Joy, Love, Maturity, Wisdom

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creation, God, Unconditional Love

I told my mom on Mother’s Day that she was truly a gift of unimaginable blessing to me because she had always loved me unconditionally, and for that, I am so very grateful! Even though I had siblings, have made many mistakes while living my life, and have been seemingly unlovable at times during my life, her love has never diminished or faltered. I’ve never sensed her having any preference between my siblings and me, nor have I experienced a prioritization of her love when I’ve accomplished more or less. Her love has been the same at all stages of my life, she has never loved me more or less! And she is not the only one who has loved me like that, I have been blessed by my father’s unconditional love (although he passed away years ago), as well as four grandparents (who’ve also passed on), and two siblings who seemingly love me that way. And more importantly, God loves me unconditionally! So, when other acquaintances, friends and family seem to pick and choose their preferred moments in my life in which to love me, I can rest assured that I am loved as God loves – in spite of my imperfections and beyond my merit!   

It’s perhaps rarer in our personal microcosm than we imagine, this ability and impetus to love unconditionally! I’m not sure I’ve always loved family members, friends and strangers in kind. I’ve surely tried, but until we each can realize and accept God’s depth, breadth and scope of love as Creator of all life, we haven’t really got it to give to others. It takes wisdom and spiritual maturity to comprehend the amazing, infinite, and forgiving definition and scope of love to truly be able to receive it within and then to share it with others! Such genuine and unconditional love must flow first from within to then encompass others with whom we interact. Love is the gift of ourselves, which is shared in an endeavor to improve, heighten and joyfully enhance the lives of those with whom we intermingle and enmesh. Love is our acceptance, approval, and awareness of others in spite of their human flaws and behavioral imperfections. And as the Bible instructs us, we are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, meaning we are to love all those people around us in kind, without condition! But first, we must receive God’s love within to be able to then share it with the world around us.

Is it always easy or natural to love strangers, or even family and friends unconditionally, at all times? No. Not when we love through our human perspective and with our human limitations. But when we learn to love ourselves and others as God loves us, then it becomes easier and more natural! And that is why spiritually mature people have a more heightened, easier time loving in this way! Judgment, conditions and imperfections matter less, or not at all, to those who’ve realized how great the love that God has for them! And in turn, they are then compelled to follow God’s Word, loving others as God has loved them and as they love themselves! Love is only unconditional at that level – when it is fully accepting, forgiving, and beyond the limited scope of human understanding!

  

Parents, like my mom and dad, often have an edge in loving their children in this unconditional way, as they experience the deepest intimacy and acceptance of their yet unknown children as gifts from God while awaiting their birth with loving expectancy! Unimaginable love can develop in the time it takes to see those children conceived, born, growing and developing into future adults. Sadly, it’s not always this way, many people never really perceive and receive the unconditional love which comes first from God, so what they have to give is less than unconditional and based on a human understanding of what love really is! That truth is evident and observable in every relationship and situation in which love is key! To know what love is, one must know from where it comes and from Whom it comes! Love flows first from the source of all love, it must be received and given, shared from one human being, to another to be truly appreciated and evidenced as unconditional.  

Making Changes With Faith . .

17 Thursday Sep 2015

Posted by Cheryl Ries in aging, Attitude, Choices, Conquering Fear, Courage, Family, Giving Up, Humility, Maturity

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aging, Choices, Faith, Unconditional Love, Unselfishness

I got to visit my dear friend’s new place yesterday. Somehow it was satisfying and comforting to explore the place into which she moved after giving up so much from her other residence at this stage of her life. She is elderly, in her early 80’s. My friend didn’t want her children to go through what she had gone through with her own mother years before; having to quickly find a nursing home for her mom upon the sudden eroding of ability, mind, thinking, cognition and/or loss of faculties. So she chose to go on her own timing and by her own choice to a smaller place in a senior residence community (with assisted-care on site), where she can get ready help should it be necessary some day or any day. ANU_0310  

She left most of what she had collected in her 40+ years of living in her own home behind. Most everything she had amassed as family matriarch, along with her husband who passed away a decade ago, her sons left for the less fortunate curbside at her old house. In a lot of ways, I mourned for her decision, knowing that she didn’t really want to move or change address after all this time. She enjoys her freedom, lamenting having to be accountable to staff at her new place for safety sake; and her house was her connection to her deceased husband and many memories of prior times which have passed for good. But she did this out of love and because she didn’t want to be a burden to her children. She gave up the bigger house, the pool, the secure garage, the possessions and her freedom to move into a place where she has her own space for now; she is part of a community of seniors in transition, each learning how to face whatever is to come. Ben Franklin quote

Each of us must find our way through the minefield of life, often fraught with such discomfort and significant change that we are rendered stunned. In hopes that she has eased that stage for her sons, I give her great credit! It takes unconditional love and an unselfish heart to leave almost all you’ve treasured and gathered behind for the sake of the ease of others. It is hard to imagine rendering most everything material as inconsequential; but not when measuring the worth of such things against those most precious to your heart – your children and/or family- and their needs! It is not easy watching people change, but it is incredibly hard to watch them go. I am preparing myself for that time with her, with my own mom and with others in my life; as time itself erodes the illusion of safety nets we seem to have when we’re younger. We must learn to accept the changes, to face things with bravery, even to blaze the pathways into unknown places for the sake of love! Fortunate are those of us who also do it with faith.  Signature02

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Cheryl Ries-Author & Model

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