Unconditional Love

Posted Wed May 28, 2003 in

I have been loved unconditionally. I have a wife, three children and one three-year old grandson, plus my dog. I am the luckiest man in the world.

In one respect, dogs and children are the same — they love without condition. No matter how bad my day has been, Dakota (my dog) will greet me when I arrive home, all wiggly and jumpy and excited that I’m home again. Later she will find me and stick her cold nose in my hand, then sit by me while I mess with her ears and stroke her head. She’s been like that since we got her years ago. It doesn’t matter if I’m cross with her, or if she’s been in trouble for her behavior. She just loves me.

This afternoon, Daughter left to do some shopping and Grandson was asleep. I was working at the computer, sitting on the sofa, when I heard Wife speak to him. I stood up and looked over the sofa at him. “You want to sit with me?” I asked.

He nodded and walked around the end of the sofa. I took him in my arms and we sat on the sofa. He cuddled down against my side, still groggy and sleep-warm. (He’s a slow waker.) I sat there, holding him quietly in the living room while he dozed. I watched him in his half-awake state, noticing how much he looks like his dad. His black hair is short against his head and has a rough texture. His head bobbed now and again as he relaxed. Once he looked up at me with that look that only children can give. They love and trust without the cynicism and heartache that the world brings to them later.

After a few minutes he began to stir around. We sat together and I played finger games with him, wiggling my fingers and talking to him, making animal shapes and sounds, quiet play. Times like these are special and rare. I cherish them as brief glimpses of God’s love that shine in the hardness of the world.

  1. Amen to that.

    — dan    31 May 2003, 11:55    #