I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, especially the last few days. Have I really grown to love unconditionally?

You know I went back to the dictionary to see if I missed anything regarding “un”.

Un means not. When attached to a word it means not that. Un+Fair =unfair – not fair.

Un+conditionally =unconditionally – not conditionally. We, or maybe I should say I, think of no conditions, no strings attached. Could it mean more?

I looked at the statement my son Sam made: you can’t love unconditionally unless you know the condition the person is in or has. (My paraphrase). The context for the word condition changes. This doesnt’have anything to do with the strings attached but instead the state or situation the person is in. Could mean their character, their socioeconomic status, their health, or behavior. I thought about that. I don’t like liars. It would be easier to embrace someone with a possibly contagious disease than a liar. But that’s the condition of mental health they are in, their character.

Condition = liar

Uncondition = not liar

I am to love them as if the condition did not exist. Love them as if they weren’t liars.

To love unconditionally then means to love as if the condition you find so offensive was NOT. See past the condition and love them anyway. This doesn’t mean you accept or agree with wrong. It doesn’t mean you are blind to the condition. It means you see it and choose to love as if it wasn’t there.

I have to ask myself do I truly love some people unconditionally that I thought I did? Can I love racists, hatemongers, rapists, pedophiles, murderers, liars, and the like in my present “condition”? I still don’t like liars but can I love them anyway?

Loving unconditionally is loving as if the condition was NOT.