I personally love Valentine’s Day but not for romantic reasons. I find schmaltzy cards kind of fun. I like telling people I love them.
Some people avoid Valentine’s Day like I avoid Mother’s Day. (Love my kids. Miss my Mom.) Some celebrate Galentine’s Day. Some people take St. Valentine very seriously and spend the day pondering martyrdom. And I recently heard February 14 referred to as Single Awareness Day.
Being single can be a joy. Sometimes partnered people feel single. Everyone experiences existential loneliness in that – even if we married believing that Our Person would fulfill every need and maybe even read our minds – we quickly realized that it was not possible. No one can thoroughly know us – how we think, what we think, why we are the way we are – except for One.
My personal faith story involves realizing that even though he was a male person born 2000 years before me in a wholly different context and culture, I deeply felt that God knew me through Jesus. Long story, but that was the takeaway.
Today I know partnered people who feel lonely. I know married people who wish they weren’t. I know single people tired of feeling alone. And yet . . .
February 14 is an excellent time to take a minute and be aware that each of us is a distinct and complicated human, worthy of love and filled with the proclivity to love others. Imagine a day – or just a moment – when we can single-mindedly appreciate the person we were created to be.
It is an underappreciated miracle when we have people to love, work that satisfies and a greater purpose in this life than making the most money, curating the best resume, or stockpiling the best toys. Life is a miracle and I love it when we remember.
May every single one of you have a day filled with sparks of insight and more than one moment of joy.
A Church for Starving Artists 