I can't think about Valentine's Day without thinking about the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Yeah, I know that probably makes me a little bit crazy, but I can't help it. I know that Valentine's Day (albeit primarily a Hallmark holiday designed to spend money) is supposed to be a remembrance of those we love and cherish. But, for me it also brings up that underlying human condition of distrust and violence.
Love and trust are two things that are easily associated with one another, right? You trust the ones you love, and those you trust are easier to love. This comes to be a problem whenever we try to live out the commandments to love our neighbors. I mean, what if I don't know them... or even worse, what if I know them, but don't trust them? It's really hard to find it in your heart to express love to someone when you know that at any moment they could turn their back on you and rat you to the coppers.
And violence, what does that have to do with Valentine's Day? I think I've mentioned before, but I read police incident reports every day for my job, and there is barely a day that goes by that I don't read a report about family violence (primarily between spouses with alcohol involved). Now, I am not exactly a knowledgeable source on this, but there are so many times that there are no charges filed or the victim only wants the report for future reference, and life returns to the way it was.
This is going to seem like a really cheap analogy, but sometimes I think that we go for the same sort of abuse with other things. We give up our relationships with God and others in order to pursue something that seems better, and even though we are burned by this desire, we continue to go for it. I'm sure everyone can think of their own example to go along with this analogy, and even though it may never be as severe as an abusive spouse, we do find that we hurt ourselves pretty easily for the stupidest of reasons.
All of this comes back to love, though. Love is the source of our joy and also the source of pain. God (in God's love) asks that we give up our wants in order to pursue greater things, and in that love our pain becomes temporary and insignificant in contrast to the rewards that come from service.
Love and trust are two things that are easily associated with one another, right? You trust the ones you love, and those you trust are easier to love. This comes to be a problem whenever we try to live out the commandments to love our neighbors. I mean, what if I don't know them... or even worse, what if I know them, but don't trust them? It's really hard to find it in your heart to express love to someone when you know that at any moment they could turn their back on you and rat you to the coppers.
And violence, what does that have to do with Valentine's Day? I think I've mentioned before, but I read police incident reports every day for my job, and there is barely a day that goes by that I don't read a report about family violence (primarily between spouses with alcohol involved). Now, I am not exactly a knowledgeable source on this, but there are so many times that there are no charges filed or the victim only wants the report for future reference, and life returns to the way it was.
This is going to seem like a really cheap analogy, but sometimes I think that we go for the same sort of abuse with other things. We give up our relationships with God and others in order to pursue something that seems better, and even though we are burned by this desire, we continue to go for it. I'm sure everyone can think of their own example to go along with this analogy, and even though it may never be as severe as an abusive spouse, we do find that we hurt ourselves pretty easily for the stupidest of reasons.
All of this comes back to love, though. Love is the source of our joy and also the source of pain. God (in God's love) asks that we give up our wants in order to pursue greater things, and in that love our pain becomes temporary and insignificant in contrast to the rewards that come from service.
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