Unconditional Love

A story is told about a soldier who was finally coming home after having fought with enemies.

He called his parents on phone from army head office. Mom and dad, I am coming home, but I have got a favour to ask. I have a friend I would like to bring with me. “Sure” they replied, “we would love to meet him”. There is something you should know, the son continued; he was hurt badly in the fighting. He stepped on landmine and lost an arm and a leg. He has no where else to go, and I want him to come and live with us.

I am sorry to hear that, son. May be we can help him find some where live. No, Mom and Dad, I want him to live with us. Son, said the father you don’t know what you are asking. Someone with such a handicap would be a terrible burden on us, we have our lives. I think you should just come home and forget about that guy. He will find a way to live on his own. At that point the son hung up the phone. The parents heard nothing more from him.

Few weeks later they received a call from the army office. Their son was dead after falling from a building, they were told. The police believed it was suicide. The grief-stricken parents flew to Army office and were taken to the morgue to identify the body of their son. They recognized him but to their horror they discovered something they didn’t know. Their son had only one leg and one arm.

The parents in this story are like many of us. We find it easy to love those who are good-looking but we don’t like people who inconvenience us or make us feel uncomfortable. We would rather stay away from people who are supposed to be a burden on us.