It’s the season of romance. Love is in the air! Candy hearts and professions of adoration surround us everywhere we go. I know many people say that Valentine’s Day is simply a ploy by the card companies to get us to consume or that one should not need a special day to express “I love you,” but I absolutely love Valentine’s Day and always will. I even chose it as my wedding day, 4 years ago this year.
The one bone I have to pick with Valentine’s Day is how often people miss its potential. Yes, romantic love may always get the most attention but what of all of the other love in our lives? Why not repurpose this day to think of all that we love in our circles of influence? Surely, love is large enough to capture the many facets that live within it.
We love our community, those who stand beside us day in and day out, witnessing our lives and working through the ups and downs of relationships. Love arises with our friends in the flora and fauna world. Perhaps we might spend extra time giving our dogs the belly rubs they ask for, but our busy schedules often deny them. Or perhaps we will spend intentional quality time in our beloved garden or the shade of a favorite tree.
Professions of the love we have for our family members and friends are no less needed than that of romantic paramours. Taking time to write a note of love to our mail carriers or baristas is a sacred act.
In times such as these, where hate speaks so loudly, why not channel our frustrations into even more vocal expressions of love? Love that demands justice for survivors and restoration of those who have caused harm. Love that acts for the cleaning of our waterways and the preservation of our forests. Love that bears witness to the pain so many harbor in silence. Love that drowns out hate and believes that no matter how dark the night, the sun will rise again.
May you be loved. May love’s light filter into every crease and crevice of our world. Because, in the end, love has and always will win.