Pastis gets it…well, sort of. Rat decides that he needs to get unconditional love from others. However, as Goat rightly points out, Rat cannot simply command others to unconditionally love him; that is very true. To say that one will offer unconditional love hinged on some sort of condition prior to giving that unconditional love, is, boldly, conditional love. And, as Goat states, “…no right thinking person is going to offer unconditional love to someone whose love is conditional”. To have someone unconditionally love you, there can be absolutely no conditions. Goat is simply wise to point this out to Rat.
But here is the ‘sort of’ (if you will): the error is that true unconditional love expects nothing in return; this is what Paul Zahl calls: one-way love. One. Way. Not two ways. One-way love is freely given; it is offered apart from any hinging request or desire. There is no ‘or else’ or ‘and’ to one-way love. It is simply one-way, and it is relentless. One-way love stands firm because it expects nothing back. One-way love is not turning a blind eye to faults and failures, but the overarching and over-reaching statement that cuts through those faults and failures and declares us to be lovable when we, frankly, are not. This love declares yes, when everything else declares no. One way love is Gospel love, the love of God, the love demonstrated by the Cross.
And yes, we do love because we have first been loved (1 John 4:19). Yet, it is because that love, which loves us, is one-way, no-strings-attached, carrying with it no expectations; that is the love that causes us to love back (and to love others).
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2 responses to “The Unconditional Love… of Rats”
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Am I the only one who feels that one-way unconditional love sounds vaguely creepy when described in this way?
Then I see that the one-way, unconditional Lover hopes. It is the sweetness and the vulnerability of that Lover's hope… while still remaining unconditional…that opens up a space for free response from the Beloved. and that makes it seem less creepy to me.
Christa:
thank you so much for your comments. I really appreciate what you've added to the concept of one-way love. The declarative word of the Cross does in fact (as you say) opens up a space for response from the one who is loved. Though, I confess, I don't fully understand the differentiation you are trying to make here. The post was more about the dichotomy of loving to get love back and just loving with no strings attached. We are loved. (period.) There are no conditions on that love. And in that unconditionality of love brings forth faith, hope, gratitude. But again, the post was about the error of Goat's response to Rat: we do not love to get someone to love us back; nor are we loved by God to get us to love Him back (both options are conditional and not unconditional). True unconditional love expects nothing in return, yet has great effect on the beloved (which I think is what you are pointing out (?)).