Historically, Valentine’s day has been celebrated as a day for lovers.
Legend has it Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When
Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives
and families, he outlawed marriage for young men, his crop of potential soldiers.
Valentine disagreed with the law and continued to perform marriages for
young lovers in secret. When Claudius found out, he ordered Valentine put
to death.
According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first 'valentine' greeting himself.
While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with the jailor’s daughter, who
visited him in prison. Before he was put to death on February 14, he wrote her a letter
and signed it 'From your Valentine,' an expression we still use today.
Although the truth behind the Valentine legends has been lost, the stories
certainly emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic, and, most
importantly, romantic figure. It's no surprise that by the Middle Ages, Valentine was
one of the most popular saints in England and France.
So while I certainly acknowledge the history and romance of the Holiday.
The candy and florists want you to think today is a day you have to spend money to let
those you love know you love them. I want to remind you of the basic principle behind the
Holiday. Love. Webster’s dictionary defines Love as many things,
“To regard with affection, to like, to delight in. To be in love, to be tenderly attached.
Warm affection; fond attachment; the passion between the sexes, the object beloved; a
word of endearment; Cupid, the god of love; the score of nothing at tennis, etc”
It actually says ETC, even the dictionary can’t contain
all the definitions of the word LOVE.
The Bible tells us there are but three things that last, faith, hope and love,
but the greatest of these is Love.
Jesus said "This is my commandment, That you love one another,
as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life
for his friends." Many world religions have some form of the golden rule,
“Do unto other’s as you would have them do unto you” as one of their
believes.
How do we Do unto other’s as we would have them do unto us?
How do we give and show love? The other day I was sitting at a traffic light, it turned
green but the cars on the cross street were blocking the intersection. I’m familiar with this
intersection and know if you just wait for the light to cycle, you’ll get a chance to go before
the light turns red. But apparently the guy next to me didn’t know this. I glanced over at
him and noticed he was yelling and making hand gestures at the cars blocking his way.
He was getting more and more upset as time when on. He may have been running late
and had somewhere to be.
I know and understand that feeling, but couldn’t help thinking of how much
anger and hate he was spewing by his actions and hand gestures. There
were two guys in a truck blocking his way and they saw him too, the looked at him getting
so upset and smiled. They didn’t return his angry gestures and basically ignored him.
After the light changed and they pulled away they laughed.
They showed love by not returning anger.
What about the person in the express line in front of you with more then 15
items in their cart. Don’t you get mad and want to tell them where to go.
Maybe that person had other things on their mind and didn’t realize they had more items,
maybe they only had $20.00 cash to spend and was so busy counting the cost of the
items, they couldn’t count the actual items. Maybe they are just inconsiderate and did it
on purpose. How do you show them love? JJust don’t say anything and let it go.
Maybe by showing love to other’s we’re actually helping ourselves. If we
crowd our mind with angry and hurtful thoughts who are we really hurting? Ourselves.
Maybe God’s commandment to Love one another is not only to show love
and help our fellow man, but to help ourselves. By taking the focus off
ourselves and our problems and showing love to our fellow man, we not only
benefit the person we are helping but ourselves.
How do you show love? Today I challenge you to show love, not only with cards and
flowers, but with your thoughts, words and actions. Show other’s tolerance,
compassion, understanding and patience. Smile at the person you pass in
the hall. Say hi to the security guard. Listen, God gave you two ears and
one mouth for a reason, so you can listen twice as much as you
speak. Ask someone how they are doing and really listen. You don’t have to
have a solution to their problem, sometimes that's not what they need. Sometimes they
just need to talk and have someone really listen to them.
Hug someone today. Hug yourself. Tell your children how precious they are to you. Call
your friends and tell them you appreciate them. If you’re uncomfortable expressing your
feelings or saying the word Love, you can show it by your actions.
You can say I love you in so many ways and not ever have to use the word.
How do you show love? I challenge you today to think about that and find a way to
express your love to your family, friends and even strangers. On this day set aside for
lovers, use it to spread love to not just to your lover, but to everyone.
As Lennon and McCarthy say;
ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE, LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED.
Some wise men once said;
ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE,
LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED.
ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE,
LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED.
Pat Edmondson faith inspirational faith writings positive inspire
Christian home family life inspiring words wisdom southern
woman women writer writers Louisville ky kentucky
Christian home family life inspiring words wisdom southern
woman women writer writers Louisville ky kentucky
| INSPIRE by Pat Edmondson |
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