Unconditional Love: The World's Greatest Superpower
By Kristen Lundquist on 09 February 2010
Early last week, I was reading an article that claimed each American spends an average of 86,000 hours on the job over the course of a lifetime. I began to consider how few "big picture" moments come to us over the course of our career in comparison to our ordinary, hustle-bustle tasks. Why do we "do" what we "do" and how does that reason filter down into every common action that we complete? At IGE we pursue religious freedom worldwide, working with both high level officials and grassroots leaders to effect change. What we "do" is foster respect for one's neighbor, focusing on areas where the law [or practice thereof] and the religious needs of the people are at a divide. But what is it that drives us? And, what is it that makes people sit up and pay attention when we present our ideology on religious freedom?
In a recent conversation with a friend I posed the question: If you were able to download all possible information and method into your intellect regarding a single skill, what skill would you choose? As the question was posed in a jovial spirit, I wholly expected her to offer up a "super-power" skill like lightning speed or telepathy. So I was taken aback when she said she would choose to "download" unconditional love, stating that it was a skill that seemed, at times, so difficult for her to comprehend. Her answer struck a chord, and I began to consider it in correlation to the "super power" response I had expected. In the eyes of the world, is unconditional love the equivalent of a super-power? Is seeking unconditional love, in the form of freedom and justice for others, so rare that the world has forgotten how to pursue it? And if so, perhaps therein lies the "big picture" answer for why we do what we do here at IGE.
As leaders in the pursuit of religious freedom, we value differences in opinion and faith practice, knowing that it's just as important to rally for the rights of those who are religiously different as it is to rally for those who are similar. Therefore, we unconditionally fight for freedom-of-conscience for others, even if, theologically, we clash. We pour ourselves into this pursuit to show the persecuted that we care—beyond what the world may expect of us.
And yet, no one is superman; no one exhibits unconditional love in its purest form. We falter and we fail ... but we try again. In that way, we continuously learn how to better love our neighbor. This is not done, however, through our own strength; it is the hand of God, always working in our lives—refining us. We "download" this super power of unconditional love from him and strive to replicate it as best we can. This is what makes the world sit up and take notice. To the world, it makes sense to protect someone because they will then protect you. It makes sense to halt suffering to better the economic status of a nation or even to prevent extremism on a global scale. But to the world, unconditional love for the religiously persecuted when there is nothing to be gained for oneself is madness. Even so, at IGE, we pursue it because it is universally good, because we are all made in the image of God and deserve respect, and because his love, unconditionally, extends to us. This is the time clock by which we each measure our 86,000.
Last updated 10 February 2010