I have had my ebs and flows with Valentine’s day.. in highschool I LOVED it because my dad always got me something special 🙂 A couple years in college I loathed this day, wore black, and was bitter… Then slowly a friend made me realize it’s about actually expressing that you care.. and to make sure I knew I was loved he bought me roses every year… And would fight with the florist EVERY YEAR because he hates yellow… and of course yellow is the friendship rose. So, usually he’d settle with peach or orange with tips, pink with tips.. etc.. Slowly he helped me realize it’s not a holiday to be hated.. After college I became indifferent about the holiday.. Mostly due to the fact that I have never once had a boyfriend during this time of year (haha.. amusing to me now)..
This year, I love this holiday. I mean, I still do not have a boyfriend, nor my friend around to give me flowers so I know I’m loved just because.. But, this year I am totally content with who I am, who God is making me to be.. and I know I am loved. So, I made a point to let a few people know I love them.. just because 🙂
However, the thing that really has changed it for me is learning WHY this is a “card holiday” .. (I mean seriously, does Hallmark need a reason to make a profit on a certain day?!).. So, here’s a bit of history for you to know why this is kind of actually a cool holiday!…
(small snippet of the story)
In Rome in A.D. 270, Valentine had enraged the mad emperor the mad emperor Claudius II, who had issued an edict forbidding marriage. Claudius felt that married men made poor soldiers, because they were loath to leave their families for battle. The empire needed soldiers, so Claudius, never one to fear unpopularity, abolished marriage.
Valentine, bishop of Interamna, invited young lovers to come to him in secret, where he joined them in the sacrament of matrimony. Claudius learned of this “friend of lovers,” and had the bishop brought to the palace. The emperor, impressed with the young priest’s dignity and conviction, attempted to convert him to the Roman gods, to save him from otherwise certain execution. Valentine refused to renounce Christianity and imprudently attempted to convert the emperor. On February 24, 270, Valentine was clubbed, stoned, then beheaded.
History also claims that while Valentine was in prison awaiting execution, he fell in love with the blind daughter of the jailer, Asterius. Through his unswerving faith, he miraculously restored her sight. He signed a farewell message to her “From Your Valentine,” a phrase that would live long after
its author died.
So, there you have a kinda cool reason.. This holiday is a reminder to write the one(s) you love and tell them you love them and why.
Pretty cool to me 🙂 (even if secular society has taken it and ran.. kinda like Santa and the Easter Bunny)
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