On Unconditional Love

1
How can I learn
to love the world
more deeply
before I leave it.

2
There came a moment
when I realized
that every person
I encountered
along the way
was my teacher,
and every experience
became
my lesson.

3
Unconditional Love
is total acceptance,
a quiet, powerful presence,
an ever living energy
arising from a heart
that refuses to close,
no matter what.

Unconditional Love
releases anger,
fear,
and resentment,
allowing others
to find their own way,
to grow
at their own pace.

Unconditional Love
loves intensely,
from whatever distance
love requires,
when a beloved
turns and runs
from love itself.

Unconditional Love
bears pain
with quiet courage,
fearlessly seeking
the most loving response
to every challenge,
in every darkness,
through every storm.

Unconditional Love
yearns
for another’s wholeness,
simply because
they are,
demanding nothing,
while never condoning
lies,
delusion,
or harm.

Unconditional Love
knows another’s journey
is as sacred
as its own,
and understands
that judgment
never helps
the one
who is stumbling,
lost,
or suffering
along the way.

Unconditional Love
wakes,
sleeps,
and breathes
one enduring prayer:
May those I love
inhabit
their truest selves,
and live
their highest dreams.

Ron Whitehead, U.S. National Lifetime Beat Poet Laureate

     Photo by Yunier Ramirez.