Rev Bill

Valentine’s Day– the day of love!

While it’s origin is is in question, most feel it is related to Saint Valentine. Regardless of how it got started, it has become “the day of love” when love notes, cards, candy, flowers, and gifts are exchanged. I enjoy Valentine’s Day — I enjoy the cards and the candy (especially the candy ).

Sally and I won’t be celebrating a lot today (I have meetings and hospital visits to make — and we both have the Wednesday Night supper and Bible Study at Church. But then again — having supper with good friends is a great way to celebrate!)

In the midst of the excitement and sentiments, I hope we all can remember that love is something we should feel — and express — every day — not just on “special days”. As 1 John 4:16 reminds us:

God is love,
and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them

In other words, love is something to feel and express every day!
After 23 (almost 24) years of marriage, my relationship with Sally is the way I gauge how well I am doing with loving others. When I am showing love to her, I am usually doing pretty well with showing love to others. When I am grouchy and not very loving to her, then everybody else catches it also! I found this quote about marriage that — for me — describes marriage — and love — very well. It was written by an Italian priest and writer — Romano Guardini :

Marriage is not only the fulfillment of the immediate love that brings a man and woman together; it is also the slow transfiguration of that love through the experiences of a
common reality. Early love does not yet see this reality, for the pull of the heart and senses bewitches it. Only gradually does reality establish itself, when eyes have been opened to the shortcomings and failures revealed by everyday life. He who can accept the other then, as she really is, in spite of all disappointments, who can share the joys and plagues of daily life with her just as he has shared the great experience of early love, who can walk with her before God and with God’s strength, will achieve second love, the real mystery of marriage.

The secret is God’s strength — which helps us to love!

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.