So today is Valentine's Day, one of those holidays we always put a lot of hype into for no apparent reason. After all, if the truth were told, everybody pretty much hates this holiday. Every year of college, I wore black in protest and referred to it disdainfully as "Singles Awareness Day." Most singles share my sentiment-- many of my friends started wearing black with me.

Last year was the first time I had any significant other at all to celebrate with (as my friends on the Coordinating Committee remember ;)). Yet even now, I'm finding that the whole celebration is this agonizing thing where nobody really wants to celebrate it, no one knows what to do for it... so I'm slow cooking a pot roast today for a romantic dinner. I've discovered, though, that it isn't so romantic when you have to cook it yourself. In fact, I wouldn't recommend cooking pot roasts to anyone. Trimming the fat alone is enough to make even me a vegetarian. It took me half an hour last night to saw it off. Eeew.

Anyway, enough about pot roasts and back to Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day began as a Catholic saint day (although before that, it was a Roman fertility festival held on February 15). There are actually three early Christian saints named Valentine, but the one that started the legend was probably a prisoner of Emperor Claudius II around 270. The myth is that he performed forbidden marriages for soldiers, which led to his inprisonment. Another legend says that he fell in love with his jailer's daughter, and sent her a signed note before being led away to execution. Either way, in 496 Pope Gelasius I declared it a Christian festival. In the Middle Ages, the festival took on its present form as a day of romantic love. Finally, in the 1850s, Mount Holyoke College grad Esther Howland brought the English tradition of sending cards for Valentine's Day to the United States, mass-producing them. You can read more about Valentine's Day at www.infoplease.com/spot/valentinesdayhistory.html.

The site also says that the most likely explanation for St. Valentine's association with love is not erotic, but-- as a Christian martyr-- agape. Agape love is the love that pours out from God to Christians, and from Christians to the world. It implies wonder, a mouth wide open with awe for the divine. Agape love isn't just for one day of the year, or for people with significant others. We are called to celebrate and pass on agape to everyone we meet.

On Valentine's Day, we should remember and be aware of the agape love God has given us-- not only through life in Jesus Christ, but through the small daily things, from the encouraging smile of a stranger to the shared laughter between friends. God loves you, and it surrounds you every day. So Happy Valentine's Day, and God's rich agape love to you now and always.

"O give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever." --Psalm 136:2

Kelsey

Kelsey, I'm so happy to have a kindred spirit when it comes to Valentines Day. I too have some serious issues when it comes to that "BLACK DAY." Anyway, hope everyone has a happy day!

PA