Anti-V Day

On Thursday, February 12, 1998, a TA announced in class that he would be holding office hours on "Anti-V Day," which would be Saturday, February 14.  He then said that since we would be at school on Valentine’s Day during a three-day weekend, it was "Anit-Valentine’s Day."  Like some of my friends and me, he also didn’t like Valentine’s Day.

 

To most children, holidays are fun. On Valentine’s Day, we would exchange cards and candies with our classmates and teachers during a party, which took place all day or at the end of the school day.  As kids, we usually did not pay attention to the words printed on the cards, but as we grew up, we found that they said things that were often not true.

 

As stated in the following story someone e-mailed me a few years ago, Valentine’s Day was originally not about love and all the mushy behavior and content:

 

It’s February!  I’d like to share with you something I read last week about Valentine:

 

There are several variations on the story, but let me tell it as I heard it.  Valentine was a pagan priest who lived during the grotesque Roman persecution against Christians.  Though he wasn’t a Christian himself, he was repulsed by the Roman tortures and began secretly to protect believers.

 

Helping Christians was a serious crime and Valentine landed in a dull, dark prison.  His time there would have been fairly short, except while there he became a Christian.  The result: Valentine was sentenced to death.

 

During his last days, Valentine often thought of his family and friends.  Since they were forbidden to visit, they developed a unique way of sending messages to each other.  Valentine would squeeze his arm through the bars in his window to reach the violets that grew outside.  Each day, after picking a heart-shaped leaf, he would carefully pierce it with a message like "Remember your Valentine."  He would then send it to his loved ones by way of homing pigeons supplied by his family.  Toward the end of his life the message changed to a simple, daily “I love you.”

 

When he refused to renounce his Christian faith and turn back on the Lord he had grown to love, Valentine was clubbed to death in his cell on February 14, 269 AD.

 

For Valentine, love was more than the mushy gushy stuff we think of today.  It was above sentimental feelings or infatuation.  It was deeper than sexual attraction or physical desire.  It was a love tough enough to survive the rugged times of life.

 

Love is more than a feeling that comes and goes.  It is not based on circumstance, climate, clothes, character or come-ons.  It is a commitment that carries a price tag.  It demands action.  It means caring for a person even if they are in a bitter angry mood.  It means putting the other person’s needs, desires and wishes before yours.  It means going out of your way to accept, respect and forgive.

 

To love is to give, even if it hurts.  That’s what God did.  The Bible says “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  That giving sent Christ to the cross where He paid for our sins.  That giving grants acceptance though we do not deserve it.  That giving offers forgiveness even before we ask.  All we need to do is acknowledge our need, believe God did it for us and call upon Him to apply the benefits of His love to our lives.

 

Instead of growing bitter, Saint Valentine sent his message of love everyday.  It was a message abou

t his love for the Lord and his family.  But it cost everything.

 

This Valentines Day, remember Valentine.

 

(Story told by Pastor Daryl Kroeker)

 

THE GIFT OF LOVE

The precious gift of life is love

For with the help of God above

Love can change the human race

And make this world a better place.

 

For love dissolves all hate and fear

And makes our visions bright and clear

So we can see and rise above

Our pettiness on wings of love.

 

Author Unknown

 

I agree with the story and poem.  Love is not just about couples getting together, going on dates, getting married, or nasty and improper behavior.  It could be normal friendliness, affection, care, and concern.  For example, there is a term called brotherly love, and we have learned to spread love instead of hatred.

 

Over the years, I have come to not like Valentine’s Day, because of the mushiness, indecency, and commercialization.  I still send cards to family and friends, but I do not like what the holiday has become.  It could be that I’ve never had a lover, but as time passes, the holiday grows nastier and more improper.