If we treated everyone with love all the time, hopefully the world would be a better place. I’m not talking about sending cards, flowers, and candy (although those things are great); what about just being nice?
Valentine’s Day and Beyond
Here it is February already! Where did January go – and wasn’t Christmas just a few weeks ago? So much has happened in such a short time and here it is almost Valentine’s Day.
As the special day approaches we begin to give thought to how we can show ‘love’ to those we care about. When my kids were little, we had our family traditions like special dinners that were all red (spaghetti, red jello, cherry crisp), homemade cards, heart shaped cutout cookies, and some kind of homemade gift to give away. It has always been one of my favorite holidays because it is a chance to do something nice for someone without the pressure of some of the bigger holidays – but why February 14th? Well, there are a number of stories that surround the holiday, but historians can’t agree on the specifics of how the holiday started and for which St. Valentine it was really named or why we send cards and gifts. I guess the bottom line is that none of that really matters. We should just show people we love them everyday and in every situation – that’s a very tall order!
If we treated everyone with love all the time, hopefully the world would be a better place. I’m not talking about sending cards, flowers, and candy (although those things are great); what about just being nice? We recently had a huge snowstorm here in the Midwest and I had an opportunity to see people in action. What occurred to me is how I saw people treat each other. I watched a family (mom, dad, and kids) shovel out a complete stranger in a parking lot, someone handing paper towels to a woman in a public bathroom whose arm was in a cast, another who gave up his seat in a restaurant so a group could be together, and another taking meals to those who couldn’t get out. No fanfare, just showing love.
What if folks around the world would just do nice things for each other everyday, not just on special occasions or in special circumstances? Maybe we can start right in our own neighborhoods. So this Valentine’s Day, besides all the special things you’ll do for those you love, think of all the little things you can do for other people right around you; not just on February 14th, but every minute of every day of the year. A dear, wise woman once told me that she was ‘casting her bread upon the water’ as she and her husband helped my family for the umpteenth time. Maybe we could all cast some bread on the water, and “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Happy Valentine’s Day!
