“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.” ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

What a wondrous quality it is we label “love”. It is the favorite topic of poets and musicians, believers and philosophers. And if we were to speak of the highest principled love, we would likely have in mind something we call unconditional love.

That notion creates an understanding that love which is conditional is the foundational principle. To get closer to truth, a surpassing rendering of this concept would be to replace “love” with the more accurate “conditional love”, and “unconditional love” with the already complete “love”.

Conditions are limiters. If we speak of “pure maple syrup”, many things are at play. This is not just any syrup, it is maple syrup and the implication is that being maple makes it superior. Furthermore, by calling it pure we are by inference impugning all other maple syrup as somewhat less than pure.

Conditional love is almost a misnomer. It is more like saying “love, not really”. This usage has grown out of the limitation of imperfect humans to display or even grasp love in its purest sense.

Still, we have to start somewhere. So we start with a thing we label love that is full of conditions and limitations. While this is an improvement over lack of love, it is no place to rest. We pass through this place but the longer we linger, the more likely it is that we will never grasp the truth of love.

“Unless your love is unconditional, it’s “love, not really.” ” click to tweet

Love, unconditional and pure, perfect and complete, is present at all times. It waits for us to experience it, always ready, always welcoming. All can experience it and with practice one can experience it always.

Have you embraced the unconditional? Share your experiences by commenting below.

Photo credit: Jake Belucci