“Even after all this time, the sun never says to the earth, ‘You owe me.’
Look what happens with a love like that. It lights the whole sky.” –Daniel Ladinsky 

Sometimes in our lives, we keep score. “I did this for you, why can’t you do that for me?” We give with strings, and feel cheated if our loving is not returned in equal measure. Ladinsky implies here, writing in the name of Hafez, the great Persian mystical poet, that limited love produces limited results.

But love given without measure, without expectation of return, freely and fully, light ups the whole sky. And probably yields more returns than conditional love to boot. Keeping our eyes on the scoreboard limits our ability to be in the game, to be fully present to who is before us. What’s at risk, if we love unconditionally, beaming our affection, admiration, friendship, blessing as a pure gift rather than a shrewd bargain? More importantly, what’s at risk if we don’t love like that?

Who can you love completely today, just for love’s sake?

Daniel Ladinsky (born 1948) is an American poet and interpreter of mystical poetry, born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. In introductions to his books, Ladinsky notes that he offers interpretations and renderings of poets, rather than literal or scholarly translations. His work is based on conveying and being “faithful to the living spirit” of Hafiz, Rumi, as well as other mystic poets.

Joe Laur is a father, husband, naturalist, executive consultant, and a lowly rabbinic student. He can be reached at joe.laur@godsdog.net.