Yes, Valentine's Day is an extremely commercialized day, with expectations of Hallmark Cards, flowers and candy, with perhaps a dinner thrown in.
But in our so busy lives, whether we have a special someone at the moment or not, it's not a bad idea to stop for just a day, or even a few hours, and think about love. Think about how we express love, whether or not we have been feeling loving or loved lately, and what we may want to do differently.
There are many ways to express love, and some work for certain people, and not for others. Some people only see love through action, others primarily through feeling. Love may last a long time, but even if it doesn't, that doesn't mean it wasn't or isn't love.
Sometimes love is not returned. Some love secretly, others can't help but display their feelings publicly. Love is not a simple thing, not easily defined or put in a box.
There is no papal, governmental or societal authority that defines what love is or isn't, though often parents try to convince their children that they know what love is and that surely isn't love, not at your age.
I suspect that real love, true love, has a lot in common with kindness and compassion. It may also include aspects of loyalty, humor, stability, understanding, risk and patience. And it may be that we all get to "roll our own" from the plethora of feelings and actions that make up a human being.
Perhaps the one thing that I know about myself, that just might be true of all, is that I need to both love and be loved. How that is expressed is a continuous and changing journey of self exploration and spiritual growth.
Here's a little acrostic poem I wrote for this day.
I LOVE YOU
I 'm thinking of you tonight; of how
L earning to know you has been such fun, and
O h, sometimes there's hard times too, but the
V ows we made still keep us on track. You know,
E very day I thank God for you. The
Y ears fly by, and we're still together, with
O pen hearts, hand-in-hand, looking outward at
U nlimited possibilities for service.
But in our so busy lives, whether we have a special someone at the moment or not, it's not a bad idea to stop for just a day, or even a few hours, and think about love. Think about how we express love, whether or not we have been feeling loving or loved lately, and what we may want to do differently.
There are many ways to express love, and some work for certain people, and not for others. Some people only see love through action, others primarily through feeling. Love may last a long time, but even if it doesn't, that doesn't mean it wasn't or isn't love.
Sometimes love is not returned. Some love secretly, others can't help but display their feelings publicly. Love is not a simple thing, not easily defined or put in a box.
There is no papal, governmental or societal authority that defines what love is or isn't, though often parents try to convince their children that they know what love is and that surely isn't love, not at your age.
I suspect that real love, true love, has a lot in common with kindness and compassion. It may also include aspects of loyalty, humor, stability, understanding, risk and patience. And it may be that we all get to "roll our own" from the plethora of feelings and actions that make up a human being.
Perhaps the one thing that I know about myself, that just might be true of all, is that I need to both love and be loved. How that is expressed is a continuous and changing journey of self exploration and spiritual growth.
Here's a little acrostic poem I wrote for this day.
I LOVE YOU
I 'm thinking of you tonight; of how
L earning to know you has been such fun, and
O h, sometimes there's hard times too, but the
V ows we made still keep us on track. You know,
E very day I thank God for you. The
Y ears fly by, and we're still together, with
O pen hearts, hand-in-hand, looking outward at
U nlimited possibilities for service.
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