Unconditional Love

The weather outside is cool and windy, so I stayed in my bedroom and sat on my cozy chair in front of my desktop pondering what to write on my blog today. Hmmmm….. I’ve not much activity to write today except that I am proud that at last I can now drive ( on my own huh… meaning, without my driving instructor at my side) and able to bring my kids to school and pick them up in the afternoon. Uh, that’s a remarkable achievement…LOL…

As I am pondering what else could I share to my friends today, I remembered the story told to us by our college professor, ma’am Alice Leonardo, way back in my BSEd years. And I could hardly forget her for this interesting story.

The story is about a soldier who was finally coming home after having fought in Basilan. He called his parents from Zamboanga City.

“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’d 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 mind and lost an arm and a leg, he has nowhere else to go, and I want him to come and live with us.”

“I’m sorry to hear that son, may be 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 are 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 to 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, they received a call from the Zamboanga City police. Their son had died after falling from a building. The police believed it was suicide. The grief-stricken parents flew to Zamboanga City 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.

I am deeply touched by this story that I could never forget my college professor. I've learned a lesson from this story. Many of us are like the parents of this young soldier. We only love those people who are good-looking or fun to have around, but we don’t like people who are burden to us or make us uncomfortable. Some of us give love because we also want to get back the love we have given. Why can’t we love without expecting anything in return? Thankfully, there’s someone who won’t treat us that way. Someone who loves us with an unconditional love, regardless of how messed up we are, and that is Jesus Christ.