When we think about Valentine’s Day (oh, and Happy Valentine’s Day to all who celebrate it!), we often think of Cupid shooting his arrow, maybe chocolates, and romantic love. But one of the things I’d like to focus on today is the exchanging of Valentines.
When I was in elementary school, I actually dreaded V-Day because I rarely if ever got a Valentine. This was back in the day when schools weren’t as worried about inclusion, I guess, and our teachers, most of whom in my case were nuns, didn’t really make much of the tradition either. But they allowed the exchange, and because I wasn’t among the “in” crowd, I often was left out.
And for single adult people, Valentines Day can be annoying, painful, or at least something best ignored. I was single for much of my life, and so some other singles and I got together and did the Gal-entines Day thing. We didn’t really follow the rules, though, because there were guys at our dinner party too, but at least it helped the day pass without loneliness.
Loneliness can eat away at your soul, and whether you’ve never been in a relationship, or if your spouse is no longer with you for whatever reason, Valentines Day can be hard.
Of course, the history books tell us that the original Valentine was a priest who performed marriages for soldiers in defiance of the Roman ban on married soldiers. He paid for this with his life, not exactly a happy thought. So from the start, you might say Valentines Day hasn’t always been a good day for everybody.
Wherever you are on the Valentines Day spectrum, though, I invite you into my reinvention of Valentines Day. This year, how about if we recall that Valentines Day falls smack in the middle of the church’s season of Epiphany. Epiphany is known for being the season of revelation and light, and I think that might help us reimagine what Valentines Day can mean for all of us. Christ’s love was revealed to us in his humble birth, in the way he lived his life doing acts of mercy and healing, and certainly in his death for us on the cross. His love for us can dispel the loneliness and exclusion we all sometimes feel. As our Communion prayer says, he was the one who, “on the cross, opened his arms to all.”
So whether or not we receive a card today, whether or not we have a honey to share our love with, and whether or not we are even alone or with others today, I offer this to you: You are unconditionally loved by Christ. He wants to walk with you through your sorrows and your joys. He reveals his love for us in many ways, and he is always saying to us, “Be mine,” which is an invitation that will last longer than cards that fade and roses that wilt. His love is truly forever.
Pastor Lisa Burbank
