God has been teaching me about Unconditional Love, on an ongoing basis, for the past several months.  Every time I think I get it, I then proceed to fail at it (lol), and have to get back up to keep working at it.  So here are my thoughts on the subject:

Firstly, Unconditional Love is NOT something that comes naturally to humans.  We have all SORTS of conditions on things in life … ranging from an open door requiring a “Thank You.”, all the way across the spectrum to an “I love you.” requires actions to back those words up.  If someone tells you that they love you, but don’t return your calls or e-mails for five days … well, that kind of tells you that something is up (or it makes you suspicious that something is, at the very least) … and it makes you want to then REACT by pulling yourself back (i.e. closing yourself down) from the other person.  It’s a very natural reaction … you get burned, you don’t want to get near the flame again.  This happens across the board; in all kinds of relationships.

Here’s the thing though … that is not how God loves us.  God takes every rejection; every time we ignore, or even turn our backs.  The level of love that God has for us never changes … to put it differently … OUR actions don’t make any difference to what action God takes.  We can do ANYTHING, and God will still love us just as much.  Of course, when we do these things we are causing the same level of pain to God that we would feel if somebody treated us in the same way … except magnified insanely, because God loves us that much more.

Secondly, LOVE creates a bond and, whether you know it or not, you are feeling things from that bond every day.  Most people probably take notice of the mood change, or that something is different, they just don’t realize that it actually came from somebody else.  Love creates an empathic bond … I’m sure many of you could write comments about experiences that you have had where a family member was in trouble, or a loved one was hurt … and you FELT something.  Those are the big things … but we really are affected by these connections more frequently than we know.

When you share a bond of love with someone … it doesn’t just disappear because they do.  I’m sure that we each have our own levels of sensitivity in this regard … so this might not be the case for everyone … maybe some people can’t relate.  I am a VERY empathic person though, in that I feel and pick up the energy of people around me … as well as the things that I attach my energy to (i.e. when a bond is made).  I have felt things from people I love when I have been on the other side of the planet … LOVE knows no bounds.

When you make a commitment of Unconditional Love … it really is just about the deepest commitment that any person can make.  You are saying, “I don’t care what decisions you make … I am going to love you no matter what.”  NO MATTER WHAT … there are NO conditions on that love … not fidelity, not friendship, not rejection, not even common courtesy.  Think of all the possible ways that you leave yourself vulnerable by making that commitment … a whole WORLD of pain could be lying just around the corner.

So why do it???

Well, first of all … it is the way that God loves us, and if we truly aspire to be like God … then, that is how we should love.

Sometimes though, you simply don’t have a choice.  The love is there … and you are left with two decisions: you can REACT by shutting your heart down, or you can ACT by not allowing anyone else’s actions to dictate yours.  If you love someone … truly and purely love them … then you really don’t have a choice in the matter.

Most importantly though … we are intended by God to be Beings of Love … Beings IN Love.  God does not want us to shut our hearts down, EVER.  If we get our hearts broken, God’s desire is that we keep our hearts wide open and take God into that place to fill it up with God’s love … don’t shut your love down, it is an opportunity to allow God to love you that much more.  God is fully capable of fulfilling every aspect of you … but in order for God to do that, you have to be fully open to receiving that gift from God.

When you view things in such a way, you realize … you have NOTHING to lose!  You unconditionally love someone and now there are two possibilities … either God will inhabit the relationship you develop with the other person, OR, God will fill the space they left by rejecting you … either way, it’s a Win/Win.

When you reach that place … it becomes much easier to give … to just give your love freely, because you know that it will be a new level that opens for you … either a new relationship that flowers and blooms, or a deepening of the relationship with God that you have, or BOTH.

There will be pain though … that is one thing I can guarantee … there will be a lot of pain … but then, great Love comes with great pain … you can’t have it any other way. You can be closed to God, and numb everything in life down to a dull, faint throbbing … or you can be open to God and BLAZE away unconditionally, knowing that God will always be there to provide care, and comfort for whatever the result may be.

Either way (whether with that other person, or alone, but with God) you will always wind up growing closer to God … and THAT is what life is about.

——-

Religion4All is an idea: that every human being (no matter their race, religion, sexuality, social status, lifestyle, or any other possible factor) is LOVED by God; just … as … they are.

We all are loved by God, and NO religion or person has a monopoly on it. Every single person on this planet is loved equally by God … SO many are cut off from God because they are told they don’t belong. God loves everyone … we ALL are beautiful creations … we don’t need to cringe when we hear the words “God”, or “religion”, or their judgments … God LOVES us all!

There is no requirement to change in order to be LOVED by God, or to LOVE God. God is LOVE, and LOVE is God … period. There is no one who God loves more than anyone else … there are only those who choose to LOVE more … to love God more, and consequently then to love each other more. In doing so, we grow closer to God … and know God.

By opening our hearts, and minds to God (free of boundaries like religion, or social trends); by LOVING God … we are exactly where we are meant to be. If we maintain that openness, never allowing any person or event to make us close our hearts, we will be guided by God to be who we are meant to be.

In that space of openness we can then live a life of LOVE, and be guided to where we are meant to be … forever in LOVE.

Southern California, Northern California,Mission Viejo, Irvine, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Marin, San Jose, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Ana, Palm Springs, Long Beach