St. Valentines Day
Hello friends, February 14 is a unique day in American culture – one day a year, we are urged to love someone else besides ourselves (and to buy a card to declare our unmistakable intentions!) The cynic in me recalls that St. Valentine was martyred for ministering to the persecuted and that before his execution, the saint wrote a note to Asterius’s daughter signed “from your Valentine”, which is said to have inspired today’s romantic missives.
Whether the story of St. Valentine is true, I invite you to find bigger connections in this romantic-card holiday to extend outward through the year. Compassion, mindfulness, and (yes) selfless love for others are part of religious as well as spiritual tradition, whether or not these ideas include an accompanying card from Walmart. Best, Gene
