Practice Unconditional Acceptance

"Unconditional love needs unconditional acceptance. We can learn to receive this love through living a life of gratitude."

We often speak of unconditional love. If we fully grasped the meaning of unconditional love, we would realize what a difficult concept this is. It is easy to love those that are lovable but difficult to love those that are unloveable. We love saints and popular people but dislike sinners and the outcasts. Placing no conditions on love means even loving mass murderers and other egregious sinners. This is truly a difficult thing to do, yet this is exactly how the Universe loves us. It is when we start to comprehend the scope of this love, that our hearts begin to open.

How is it possible that the Universe has unconditional love for us? Conditions upon things are attached to our physical reality. A condition means that "I will do this for you, if you do this for me." However, a condition is a form of doing. Lack of conditions means we are in a state of being. In loving us, the Universe loves us for our being, for who we are not what we can do.

If we are looking at the spiritual side of life, where there are no opposites, all in life is good. Pain reminds us that we are alive, teaches us a lesson and may push us towards the spiritual world. Death is just a changing of clothes as we move on to the next role in the Divine play. Trials are put there in our life to remind us of our spiritual heritage. We see that all in life is good from a heavenly perspective which helps us better understand the mystery of unconditional love.

The paradox is that the Universe has unconditional love for us yet the nature of our Being is that we are unconditional love. This is because God is love and we are also part of God. To feel unconditional love or, more accurately, to be unconditional Love, we must remove the things that block it. Unconditional love needs unconditional acceptance. We can learn to receive this love through living a life of gratitude.

We limit unconditional love if we ourselves put limits on its acceptance. Unconditional acceptance is opening our hearts wide open to ourselves. Putting conditions on accepting love is like saying "I will be a lovable person if I lose weight" or "...if I stop lying." We are lovable just as we are, inwardly and outwardly. We are complex, beautiful expressions of an infinite God just as we are. We do not have to learn unconditional love; we are unconditional love. We have to learn how to be empty vessels to allow this love to bubble up in us from the eternal Spring.

Gratitude is simply being grateful for everything in our lives. As we are gracious, our hearts begin to open more and more. Living a life of gratitude implies a state of Being that is gracious. Be thankful for all that is in your life. Write these things down every day; say them aloud. In doing so, your true nature emerges. To the extent that you are thankful, to that same extent you will be more in touch with your inner nature of unconditional love.