unconditional christmas decorations
[Unconditional] adjective.
1. not limited to conditions; absolute
Synonyms of Unconditional:
Certain.
Definite.
Unquestionable
Unreserved
Complete
Final
Certain.
Definite.
Unquestionable
Unreserved
Complete
Final
It was between the kitchen and the master bedroom where 90 lbs of skeleton could no longer house inner strength as powerful as Niagra Falls. She said to me, through leaky and too-close-to-empty eyes, "I'm sorry I don't have the Christmas decorations up yet."
It was precisely 8:25 a.m. on a Friday morning when it started raining.
But she looked at me and hid underneath my hug like I was the only person on the entire planet who owned an umbrella.
It was then I realized: I was the answer to the desperate cry of "Call in the reinforcements."
But I only have an aresenal of words to fight with. But my presence was simply an answer to quiet questions. It was a boost of morale, a scenic detour in the desert.
It was in the foyer where time stopped for a slow-pounding second. This pause allowed the petite woman to repossess the short breaths she had not even realized were missing.
The decorations were the silliest things to consider at this point, but they were important in their insignificance. So I replied,
"I'll put them up, don't worry. It will be Christmas here."
***
Later,
I ran the disposal, hoping it would drown out the yelling and somehow eat the tension in the air.
There was no joke I could think of to lighten the seriousness of the mood; nor could I think of anything to say that could provide comfort in the truth.
I suppose that is the thing about hard truths: they never soften.
But the truth about that kitchen, on that cold night was that the wrinkled face, screaming absurdities to the sane; her own maniacal realities.
The 90 lbs of skeleton was weary but not grateful nor was she beyond learning.
"It's one thing to lose my mom," she told me. "But it's an entirely different thing to have her hate you on the way down."
***
The past three weeks, I have seen unconditional love in action. Living proof of "we love because he first loved us."
I have seen firsthand what Christ did for all of us - and I have seen the disturbing reality of how many of us will react to His unconditional love.
We don't receive love, because we believe we are above it.
We do not receive help, because we believe we do not need it.
Woe is me, for I am an incredulous and ignorantly arrogant child who deserves only judgement and death.
But thanks be to the Father for His endless river of compassion and mercy. His love carries me through my tantrums, redeemed my life, paid my ransom, and views me as a daughter worth igniting the refining flame.
Praise the Lord. Praise His Holy Name.
***
Death, in its dark reality, is every one's neighbor. But somehow, we all seem to ignore that the fact that he does indeed live next door. We ignore until death knocks on your own front door. Will you go with Him, and choose to believe that all you have claimed your entire life is true? That the Messiah conquered death in his burial and ressurection?
Christ is my only claim; Christ is my only hope.
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