Unconditional Love

As we progress in the spiritual journey, there are surprises. In general, we only know that they will lead where Jesus invited us to go. 'Follow me,' he said. And where is Jesus going? To Jerusalem, Calvary, hell, and finally, to the bosom of the Father. In that place, we do not need anything else. Once we have given ourselves totally to God, all that God is and has is ours. God is unconditional love, and when we are unconditional love, in some way, we too are God. That is the invitation of the Gospel and the ultimate purpose of every kind of ministry, service, ritual, and sacrament. Jesus said, 'Little Children, here is the kingdom. It is all yours.' How do we receive it? Not by striving for it, but by consenting to it... When we are no thing, no role, no emotional program for happiness, no fixed point of reference, we too are unconditional love.

— Father Thomas Keating, The Better Part