Into the Fire

[I'm over here today, but that post has nothing to do with Valentine's Day. So here you go.]

Aahhh, Valentine’s Day. A day many men dread. And on which many more women become disappointed. Why? Because the expression of love sometimes has little to do with the depth of the emotion of love. And these are the two areas of love which are featured on Valentine’s Day.

There’s nothing “wrong” with Valentine’s Day because it’s supposed to celebrate the noble state of love. Biblical definitions of love make it untenable for humans because when humans become acquainted with love, it’s all about them. It becomes physical and emotional but rarely sacrificial.

Women pout if the objects of their affections are unimaginative, try to ignore the festivities of the Day, give the same ol’, same ol’ gifts as per the media suggestions. Rarely do one male and one female “celebrate” the Day with the same mindset. Men have little time to shop for something “special” to tantalize their current squeezes or their mates in order to hop into bed for the proverbial red hot sex which is expected and promoted by all the hype.

All of which has little to do with the four letter word of “love”.

The definition(s) of Love? God is Love. Period. And within that tiny sentence is an explosion of meanings and realities that we humans cannot grasp, understand, or even imitate for the most part. We screwed up our part in it. Flat out blew it. And we’ve been playing catch-up ever since. “Playing” being the operative word.

And I think that’s one possible reason why, in general, men don’t particularly like Valentine’s Day. Because it reminds them of their inadequacies in loving. It taunts them for not understanding the needs of a woman, for the barrier that exists between the sexes, great or small, but visible and coherent even if unable to articulate.

I also think women tend to love the Day because it celebrates what they always hope to have, to experience, to breathe in, to know in its fullness. Yet it eludes them. The need for touch without consummation, the desire to be the only one their man thinks is beautiful, to be celebrated for their perfection which they are sorely short of in every sense of the word. The Day allows them the tease of “feeling” special. That one time a year.

And here’s where we falter. “Feeling” love and living love can be at opposite ends of love’s spectrum at times. While “feeling” love is wonderful, necessary, and sensuous with a mate, it plays only an innocuous part of the whole experience. It’s the “doing” love that becomes the challenge with
the curves and twists and injuries life throws at us. I don’t need to diagram love for you. Read 1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter, if you need real specifics. However, the definiton describes perfection, and as humankind, we're long on longing and short on achieving in the arena of real love. 

Remember this, if you have any questions concerning true love: God is Love. And it’s only through Him that you can receive and return the illusive most desired and basic part of our existence known as Love.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

Father, I am still learning. I am still trying. I love you with all my heart even though that heart often pursues you with such lacking. I need you, am desperate for you, and am a constant recipient and student of your love. Teach me more. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.