Valentine's Day
I know it isn't Valentine's Day yet, but I could be kinda busy this weeked so I decided to post this a little early. Now don't anyone take this thing the whole wrong way and call me crazier than I already am. Read what it says, and don't make assumptions. I'm not trying to be subtle or tricky. Nor am I just spouting hot air. This is all true.
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I hate February 14th the same way I hate Shrek and The Princess Bride and certain chapel services. All of these affect me generally in the same way. Now I know many people consider love as being a couple, either as a necessity or as just something fun shared between two people. If you’re one of those people, please stop reading now. You won’t understand. If you’re not one of those people, then by all means, keep reading.
Now, I don’t really hate February the 14th because of the people who treat being a couple as a game. It’s just that when I do see a “serious” couple, two people who love each other to the point where they would rather have the one they love love another if it was best, I am emotionally stricken. It isn’t jealousy, it isn’t regret. It isn’t even sadness exactly. I can’t really put it to a single word. It’s just that I am so thankful that those two have what they have that I tear up. I’m so happy for them, that they have found each other, that I literally can cry. Remember me mentioning Shrek? It definitely came as a surprise to me when I started tearing up at that film. I mean, come on! It’s a cartoon! But the same connection is there.
And I mentioned The Princess Bride too. What of that? Well, the greater part of the movie is a comedy/ action film. But it is the first few minutes where we are introduced to Buttercup and Wesley that gets to me. She treats him as she would any servant, with a slight bit of disdain and/or scorn. And yet, no matter how ridiculous the request, Wesley simply responds to her, “As you wish…” Now, we all know the story. What he is really showing is his love for her. He loves her so much that he doesn’t try to force her to love him, but instead he just shows her his love and expects nothing, and needs nothing. Just loving her is enough for him. But of course in fairy tales, life is perfect, so she eventually loves him in return.
I could go on and on mentioning films and books and people I know, but I think I have gotten my point across. So if you see me walking away from a couple, it is because I am so overjoyed at their happiness that I feel empty. If you see me sitting in chapel at the back with tears in my eyes, it is because I know love, and how much of it I receive from God. God is the epitome of this love I am describing. This love doesn’t have to be between a man and a woman, though there are obviously some differences. It is the love that would have me jump between my friend and a bullet. And I would too, because I would take his pain to keep it from him. It is the love God has for us. The love that Jesus showed for us when He allowed Himself to be nailed to the cross. Jesus didn’t just die for us, He suffered terrible pain and agony for us! He suffered such terrible pain for us… For humans… For those who He knew, as He was in agony, would spit on His name and slander His Word. Jesus loved us so much that He died for those who would not accept Him, because He loved them. That is the love that tears me up. That is the love that seems to be lost in this world. And that is the reason why I look towards Valentine’s Day with both dread, and hope. Hope as I know that there are a few out there who truly love another. And it is those few who make the world even inhabitable, for without those few, earth would truly be miserable and full of emptiness.
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So there you have it.
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I hate February 14th the same way I hate Shrek and The Princess Bride and certain chapel services. All of these affect me generally in the same way. Now I know many people consider love as being a couple, either as a necessity or as just something fun shared between two people. If you’re one of those people, please stop reading now. You won’t understand. If you’re not one of those people, then by all means, keep reading.
Now, I don’t really hate February the 14th because of the people who treat being a couple as a game. It’s just that when I do see a “serious” couple, two people who love each other to the point where they would rather have the one they love love another if it was best, I am emotionally stricken. It isn’t jealousy, it isn’t regret. It isn’t even sadness exactly. I can’t really put it to a single word. It’s just that I am so thankful that those two have what they have that I tear up. I’m so happy for them, that they have found each other, that I literally can cry. Remember me mentioning Shrek? It definitely came as a surprise to me when I started tearing up at that film. I mean, come on! It’s a cartoon! But the same connection is there.
And I mentioned The Princess Bride too. What of that? Well, the greater part of the movie is a comedy/ action film. But it is the first few minutes where we are introduced to Buttercup and Wesley that gets to me. She treats him as she would any servant, with a slight bit of disdain and/or scorn. And yet, no matter how ridiculous the request, Wesley simply responds to her, “As you wish…” Now, we all know the story. What he is really showing is his love for her. He loves her so much that he doesn’t try to force her to love him, but instead he just shows her his love and expects nothing, and needs nothing. Just loving her is enough for him. But of course in fairy tales, life is perfect, so she eventually loves him in return.
I could go on and on mentioning films and books and people I know, but I think I have gotten my point across. So if you see me walking away from a couple, it is because I am so overjoyed at their happiness that I feel empty. If you see me sitting in chapel at the back with tears in my eyes, it is because I know love, and how much of it I receive from God. God is the epitome of this love I am describing. This love doesn’t have to be between a man and a woman, though there are obviously some differences. It is the love that would have me jump between my friend and a bullet. And I would too, because I would take his pain to keep it from him. It is the love God has for us. The love that Jesus showed for us when He allowed Himself to be nailed to the cross. Jesus didn’t just die for us, He suffered terrible pain and agony for us! He suffered such terrible pain for us… For humans… For those who He knew, as He was in agony, would spit on His name and slander His Word. Jesus loved us so much that He died for those who would not accept Him, because He loved them. That is the love that tears me up. That is the love that seems to be lost in this world. And that is the reason why I look towards Valentine’s Day with both dread, and hope. Hope as I know that there are a few out there who truly love another. And it is those few who make the world even inhabitable, for without those few, earth would truly be miserable and full of emptiness.
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So there you have it.
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