Does it start with a spark? Does it stop? Does it end?
Is it tied with a ribbon and handed away,
Or alive in each breath of an ordinary day?
It says, “You may be you, in time and in space.”
It makes room for each viewpoint, voice, and face.
It doesn’t demand that we think quite the same,
Or agree on the rules of life’s rickety game.
You may love someone dearly—your heart’s chosen one—
Yet the stranger still matters beneath the same sun.
Love honors their right to exist and to be,
Though you needn’t invite them for biscuits and tea!
If a gloomy stranger comes armed to your door,
You needn’t say, “Welcome! Come sprawl on my floor!”
Keep the lock firmly locked; let good judgment have sway:
“I allow you to be—but please be far away.”
For love without limits has boundaries too;
It protects what is precious and honors what’s true.
It gives without keeping a debt-doodle score,
With no “I gave you this, so you owe me one more.”
And receiving is part of love’s two-sided art:
Let a compliment land in the bowl of your heart.
Don’t swat it away with, “Oh, surely, not me!”
Say “Thank you,” and let the kind offering be.
At Thanksgiving tables, when tempers take flight,
Love needn’t declare, “Only my way is right!”
It allows every person a thought of their own,
Without climbing atop an opinion-built throne.
So live with a zest that is hearty and bright!
Give freely by day, and receive with delight.
Let allowance move outward through country and street,
From the people you know to the strangers you meet.
For peace is constructed one heart at a time,
Like blocks joined together in reason and rhyme.
When each builds understanding, fear loses its throne,
And no bombs need turn cities to ashes and stone.
Is unconditional love possible? Yes—
Not perfect performance, but daily progress.
It begins in your heart, then goes rippling through:
Love changes the world when it first changes you.
Let’s Have a Conversation:
What does unconditional love mean to you? How do you show it in your life? Who has shown unconditional love to you?
