Valentines is for the Birds

In my early school years we had a Valentines Day custom that has thankfully been dropped. We would collect our valentines, and then spread them out on our desks to count them. The boy and girl with the most got to be the Valentine king and queen for the day. That custom seemed to have more to do with popularity than with love and devotion. As far as I was concerned, it was “for the birds”.Actually, Valentines Day got started with the birds. It arose out of a belief in the Middle Ages that the birds began to pair in mid-February. February 14 was therefore designated as an occasion for lovers to write letters and send lovers' tokens.The recently released documentary movie, March of the Penguins, shows just how much Valentines truly is for the birds. This is an amazing story of loyalty, driven by a powerful instinct that has preserved the penguin species for countless generations in the most inhospitable climate on earth. During the breeding season bird pairs instinctively stay loyal to each other and their offspring, even though it could mean death.St. Valentinus, a third century saint, was motivated, not by instinct, but by choice to risk death rather than renounce his devotion to the one whom he loved – his God. He was supposedly martyred on February 14. His name has been attributed to Valentines Day, probably because of a legend that he wrote letters to his beloved while in prison.Both birds and St. Valentinus can remind us that devotion is much more than momentary sentiment reserved only for that one day of the year – Valentine’s Day. Diane

We Christians are just taking all that is and was fun out of the world, making folks feel under condemnation, no wonder kids are turning to shooting games on the Xbox. :-?

Saint, I don't need to condemn anyone. They're already condemned, under the law.But what's written is that all meat is fine for the body, it's all from the Lord. So my conscience isn't condemned by sending someone a Valentine's day card. :-( That would be ridiculous, especially since the commandment from our Lord Jesus says Love your neighbour as I've loved you, and so whatever occasion that can be done on I do in devotion to praising His name.

IsaacD wrote:Saint, I don't need to condemn anyone. They're already condemned, under the law.But what's written is that all meat is fine for the body, it's all from the Lord. So my conscience isn't condemned by sending someone a Valentine's day card. :-( That would be ridiculous, especially since the commandment from our Lord Jesus says Love your neighbour as I've loved you, and so whatever occasion that can be done on I do in devotion to praising His name.Agreed. :-)

I am always afraid on Valentines Day as being single it can either be the most miserable day, there are so many other people like this aswell. I find that Love is put to such a hyatus in are culture, that the single person because of the media and television and all the shops. I have always viewing loving god and loving one another as one of the hardest things in the bible. Yet it is one of the greatest. I know in myself that I cannot love. I find it personally in england one of the most lonely days in the Year, as from finding Halloween the most demonic day of the year. I think it is C S Lewis says that GOD is Love not Love is God, There is also a verse in the bible that says he who does not love does not know god and from john, how can you love a person that you can see and not love a god that you cannot see.Another quote from C S lewis is when love becomes a god it becomes a demon. I have run out of words, I know what the bible says or I dont know enough. what scares me on this day is how much sexual immorality goes on this day but yet there is the unbent form of love which is almost as good! What is love? and how do you conquer that lonelyness within, also how many people suffer on this day over lost partners and lost wives and husband, does god even cry over his lost love. Can anyone help me here Dominic

and how do you conquer that lonelyness within, also how many people suffer on this day over lost partners and lost wives and husband, does god even cry over his lost love.You shared a lot of good points, Deltadom. Some of our cultural observances, like Valentines Day can be couterproductive. There is a good reason why the New Testament forbids us to have special days. When one is established then in time everybody thinks that they must observe them. But God never told them to. Man did.Yet, Valentines is here to stay, and talking about the wrongs of it won't help anyone. Each of us must come to terms with it. Perhaps those who are suffering from loneliness or lost love can use this day as a reminder of the futility of trusting in another person as the source of fulfillment. The pain of loneliness can be replaced with the joy of God's presence. He is sufficient. We don't need chocolates and flowers and valentines cards. That may be nice, but God is far better. I wrote this for the paper, knowing that the readers would not benefit if I told them of the pagan origin. (I just dropped hints)Instead I tried to explain the virtue of loyalty. I think that people need to be reminded about that these days when so many are deserting their loved ones when things don't go well. In that sense, the penguins put us humans to shame. Is that any help?Diane

Turquoise glacier hanging in the skyThat's a really great word picture...MC

We Christians are just taking all that is and was fun out of the world, making folks feel under condemnation, no wonder kids are turning to shooting games on the Xbox MrBillPro, do you mind shouting these words a bit louder!!! We need to hear them, I mean really HEAR them! There is a great danger in proclaiming all the sinful origins and evils of our festivals like Christmas, Easter, Halloween, etc, and it is this: We put people under condemnation and guilt, but we don’t set them free. We make them feel guilt for something that they never knew anything about, and who knows how God may have used those events as a means of touching their hearts (even if it is to let them experience the weight of following man’s traditions.) Christ came to SET US FREE, and we Christians often imprison sinners further by burdening them down with more guilt than they already carry. This article was an attempt to take advantage of a pagan holiday – to turn a tradition that has imprisoned countless with unrealistic expectations, and FREEING them from the assumption that they must abide by it. To say that God Valentine’s Day is not a divine command, is to challenge people to ponder a question that they may never have considered: “Who IS my highest authority?” We must be free to CHOOSE how we will respond to Valentine’s Day, and allow others that freedom. And isn’t “choice” a gift we can give people. After all, it is by “choice” that one accepts Christ – freely, not under compulsion or pressure from anyone. Also, it’s all about getting people to THINK FOR THEMSELVES, rather than hearing only what WE think. Wa’dya think? Do I make any sense?Diane

KrispyKrittr wrote:I really believe that believers who drag out the ol' "Christmas is a pagan holiday" or "V-day is a pagan holiday" campaign do so not out of concern for the Body... but to show everyone how superior they are spiritually.Nah! I don't know anyone that would do that now, how you gona act? :-P

I really believe that believers who drag out the ol' "Christmas is a pagan holiday" or "V-day is a pagan holiday" campaign do so not out of concern for the Body... but to show everyone how superior they are spiritually.Well, I'd be a little hesitant in arriving at this conclusion. Remember that Christ (and Paul) taught that we can't love the world and the Father at the same time. So perhaps there is a somewhat justifiable reason to attempt to eradicate all the worldly practices. But it's a matter of the heart. Some maybe have to admit that Chrismas, V-day, or whatever is getting in the way of their first love, and they themselves need to let them go in the way that is best for THEM. We don't make more saintly Christians by campaigning against V-day. Diane

valentine's day you say? well i've not gotten anything for my wife as yet. also we forgot our 3rd anniversary on the 29th of jan. now before y'all freak out, we had a good laugh about it...a week later after someone else brought it to our attention :-P

I would like to say publicly that my special wife is my VALENTINE!! :-)

valentine's day you say? well i've not gotten anything for my wife as yet.You know I was thinking about this whole anti-valentines day thing when it occurred to me there are some benifits. Maybe I should rethink my spiritual position on this topic..."Sorry honey, I didn't get you anything this year for Valentines Day because I just learned about it's pagan origins. You wouldn't want to celebrate a pagan festival would you? Of course not...now buck up dear. "8-) Now if someone could just uncover the pagan origins of mother-in-laws. :eek: (Just kidding y'all...I have great in-laws!...and an awesome wife that I took off work to be with today!)MC