14 February
Dear friends,
Happy Valentine’s Day! Today we celebrate the commercialization of love, complete with cheesy heart-shaped helium balloons, pink chocolates, and overpriced dinner reservations. I must admit, I’ve never been a fan of Valentine’s Day ever since my crush rejected my heart-decorated card in the fourth grade. However, Esbé reminded me that we actually value love and should take every opportunity to acknowledge it. Valentine’s Day serves as a moment to pause and reflect on love. As much as supermarkets want to sell us love, we are inherently people who seek to deeply love and to be deeply loved. And if I’m being honest, I am a sucker for a good love story.
G.K. Chesterton writes, “Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair.” Similarly, Hans Urs von Balthasar said, “Lovers are the ones who know most about God; the theologian must listen to them.” As human beings, we are not primarily thinking things; we are lovers. We are not defined by what we know, as Augustine wrote, but by what we ultimately desire and love.
In the entrance of the Central Methodist Church in Cape Town, located in the beautiful
Greenmarket Square, there hangs a large mirror with the words: “You are born in love, by love, and for love.” Passersby are invited to look into the mirror and see themselves as objects of God’s love and advocates for love. I often contemplate this condensed version of the Gospel. God is a God of love, and God’s movement in the world is to gather us into a community of love.
This aligns more closely with the commemoration of St. Valentine on this day. In the beautiful liturgical book Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals, the authors
remind us of the type of love that characterises this occasion: “A Christian priest in Rome, Valentine was known for assisting Christians persecuted under Claudius II. After being caught marrying Christian couples and helping Christians escape persecution, Valentine was arrested and imprisoned. Although Emperor Claudius initially liked Valentine, he was ultimately condemned to death after trying to convert the emperor.
Valentine was beaten with stones, clubbed, and finally beheaded on February 14, 269. In 496, February 14 was named as a day of celebration in Valentine’s honour. He has since become the patron saint of engaged couples, beekeepers, happy marriages, lovers, travellers, young people, and greetings.”
Regardless of whether you’re in a relationship, single, or widowed, may today prompt you to reflect on love. May you again come to realize that you are indeed born in love, by love, and for love.
Marius Louw