A Valentine's Day Reflection

Valentine's Day tends to be either a wonderful day full of love or a dredful day full of wishing for love. Which has this day been for you?

I hope that it's been the former--that, regardless of whether you have a partner who loves you and for whom you feel love--that, regardless of if you have received chocolates or cut flowers or other little gifts--you have been able to sense the love that exists around you...because it is there. Even when it's hard to see, it's there.

It's there in the people who speak to you each day. It's in the birds that sing and thet wind that blows and the sun that shines and the flowers that are beginning to bloom. It's in the story of God and the words that have been passed down for generations. And it's in the teachers who teach you and the leaders who lead you--the family members who support you and this frazzled, overwhelmed writer on the other side of your screen.

Oh, I know. It's not the same thing as having that special someone. I get it. I really do. But I also know that love abounds when we're able to open ourselves up to see it--when we're able to believe in ourselves enough to trust that we are worthy of being loved and that love is what propels us through this life.

If God is love, and God is good, then everything good must come from love, right? And there are good things all around us--breath and food and laughter and tears and inspiration and music and indoor plumbing and computers and memories and hopes and dreams and forgiveness and emotion and time and...the list could go on and on.

Yes, I know. Some of those things can be used for bad. I get that, too. I really do. But goodness, in its most genuine form, is good. And God is good. And God is love. Therefore love--God's love--is the good that permeates this world and keeps it spinning in purposeful motion whenever everything else either seems to be standing still or flying out of control.

So...regardless of whether you are a Valentine's Day lover or hater, today my prayer for you is that you have noticed the Love that is around you. Because it is there. And it is deep. And it is true. And it will stand the test of time far better than chocolate and cut flowers and cards...