~ Unconditional Love ~

The bench watched as three friends walked towards it to sit down to rest their tired feet. The two ladies chatted animatedly as the guy got busy with his handphone. It all started out as mere remarks but it became a bad scene. Angry words exchanged, the guy walked away. Two ladies stared at each other, wondering what had just happened...

Many days passed... the bench never saw them again. It wondered if the situation was ever resolved. A lady walked up to the bench and sat there staring at the river front. She sighed as she looked at her handphone... as if it was a diseased thing. The bench remembered her as the lady who spoke the most to the angry guy. She sighed another heavy breath and started to talk to the bench. "You remember me?" asked the lady. "Yes, it was you who had a row with that friend of yours." said the bench. The bench wished it could give her a hug as she looked quite lost and bewildered. They spoke a long while and the bench understood that it had not been an easy friendship for her.

As she spoke, her heart spoke louder. She talked about how she long for her friend to understand that she had no intention of making things difficult for him. All she ever wanted to do was to be a supportive friend. Somehow each time, she would say or do the 'wrong' thing, it made him very mad with her. She felt so tired and speechless each time. She wondered why God kept telling her to hold on to this friendship. She questioned the point of staying put where she is.

After her sharing, the lady looked up and saw a beautiful scene. It was amazing! The clouds hid the sun and rays just shone outwards. In her heart, she heard God saying, "I have loved you for a long time with an unconditional love. I know you can understand how it feels like to be loved unconditionally. Whatever you had done, I have forgiven you. I still love you no matter what you will do in the future. Go and do the same for your brother..."

In the months to come, the lady came back a few times to share with the bench about many positive changes in their friendship. The trio would celebrate their birthdays each year and this year, it was important as one of the ladies was about to get married. The bench was a witness to their future wishes and dreams. All of them wrote into a piece of paper and the lady who loved unconditionally folded all the slips carefully. She promised them that these dreams will be kept in special boxes. They promised to open the boxes after 5 years.

Everything seemed so perfect, the bench thought. Their friendships have grown mature and all of them have mellowed much in the past years. Yet, if there is a scale to calculate how much each person has put into the friendships, it would be unfair to one or the other. Somehow someone always gave a little more... The bench turned to the heavens and asked God, "Who is most unconditional?". God smiled and looked at the leaves of the tree that stood beside the bench. "Have you ever counted these leaves?" asked God. The bench looked up at the tree and said, "I've lost count how many leaves have come forth and were blown away?".

God nodded and said, "You are right, if we should keep count of the leaves that have grown and fallen of this tree, we would miss seeing its growth and glory." "You see, it is by looking at this tree as a whole that we truly appreciate the beauty of the tree in becoming what it was meant to be." "When it was a young sapling, everyone would look at its weak stem and say that this young one would not survive the harsh winter." God chuckled as He remembered how the young tree survived the first winter.

"Look at it now... the tree has gone through many seasons. It understood the ways to survive." "Just look at the trees around it..." God pointed out the two other trees that were just next to this tree. The bench suddenly noticed they were connected by their deep roots and sturdy trunks. It seemed like each tree had survived because of the other trees. Without their support, they would have been badly hurt by many elements, both seen and unseen. "Over the past 4 years, I have seen their pains and struggles but I have also given them each other to bear them." With that thought, God left the bench to ponder about the things that He has shared with it.

The bench looked at the trio who sat down to share a lovely meal and it looked at the trees that were swaying with the wind. It kind of understood what God meant. Friendships are given to us unconditionally. No one is forced to be friends. We choose to remain as friends for life. In true friendships, you will see unconditional love demonstrated over and over again. If you truly love your brother and sister, then you can truly understand the love of a Creator for His creation.