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February 14, 2011
Origins and Legends of Valentine’s Day:
There are more tales of the "origins" of Valentine's Day than arrows in Cupid's quiver. As expected, most have something to do with pagan ritual. Four centuries before Christ, Romans had a day called Lupercalia. Without going too much into it, I'll sum it up as a sexual lottery. Pull names out of a box at random and couple with a member of the opposite sex. After a year, you get to pick another name.
Our modern glorification of sentimental love, celebrated with a flurry of cards (2nd only to Xmas), 180$ million in roses; 36 million in heart shaped chocolates has little to do with Saint Valentine. The only clear account that remains of the 3rd-century priest's life tells of how the Roman Emperor Claudius II personally interrogated him and tried to persuade him to convert to Roman paganism or die. Valentine refused and tried to convert the emperor to Christianity instead, eventually dying a martyr's death.
Another more common story is that Valentine was a priest who secretly performed marriages when Emperor Claudius II reportedly forbade marriage believing the soldiers were half hearted and homesick. He was imprisoned for his act of defiance and while in prison cured his jailer's daughter of blindness. The day before his execution (supposedly Feb. 14, 269), he sent a farewell message to the daughter signed "From your Valentine." A tradition begins…
The first card was sent by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife in 1415 when he was a prisoner in the Tower of London. It's still on display at the British Museum. But as both stories demonstrate, even by the Middle Ages, the church's hope for a more spiritual, saint-centered Valentine's Day was lost. And eventually, the idea that Valentine was actually the name of a person disappeared. By 1450, a valentine was the name of one's sweetheart. In 1533, it was a folded piece of paper.
In Great Britain, Valentine's Day began to be popularly celebrated around the seventeenth century. By the middle of the eighteenth century, it was common for friends and lovers in all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes. By the end of the century, printed cards began to replace written letters due to improvements in printing technology. Ready-made cards were an easy way for people to express their emotions in a time when direct expression of one's feelings was discouraged.
Cheaper postage rates also contributed to an increase in the popularity of sending Valentine's Day greetings. Americans probably began exchanging hand-made valentines in the early 1700s. In the 1840s the first mass-produced valentine cards in America. True or not (skeptics are forgiven), Valentine's Day has been a big deal at least since the Middle Ages.
If you feel left out and perhaps even unwanted on Valentine’s Day, God has a way reminding US of His love! Here is a story from a single adult…
"Hurrying through Chicago's commuter train station, I had an "Aha!" moment that stopped me in my tracks. I'd just left the candy counter where I'd bought Valentine's treats for an upcoming party a few of us were planning for our church's single moms. Doing so took my thoughts back to a cookout the previous summer, for which I had covered the cost. The single moms, their children, and I enjoyed a glorious day at a local sunshine-drenched beach, conversing and stuffing ourselves with burgers, chips, and all the trimmings.
As the afternoon ended, I sat among the moms at the picnic table as they enthusiastically divided up the leftover hot dogs, sodas, and desserts. No-one thought to offer me a thing. Though no-one suspected it, my feelings were a little bruised. No, I didn't need the food. And most of the moms had given little thought to where the picnic spread had come from. But the slight was significant enough that I recalled it in the train station six months later.
Then it hit me! How much more slighted God must feel when, as recipients of his enormous generosity, we're reluctant to share a portion of our resources with him. Just as I didn't need the potato salad, he doesn't need our money. But he does crave our gratitude—our acknowledgement that all we have is from him.
While Valentine's story may not have much to do with roses, chocolates, and heart-shaped chocolates Christians have long understood that love is much costlier, stronger, and lasting and more difficult than the cheap romanticism of our age."
God’s WORD shows US the true way of love. “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” I John 4:1-11
“Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:1-2
“How precious to me are your thoughts, oh God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you.” Psalm 139:17-18
God is in a relentless passionate pursuit of YOU! No matter who you are or where you are, no matter or how far it takes He will find you! His Love will never be exhausted in His pursuit of you!
