The accumulation of an upbringing in the church and of Sundays upon Sundays spent with the congregation together in worship. If your entry into the church, if your experience of the divine was a powerful one, you still have to live out that experience in your day to day lives and it might be lived out quietly as small circumstances. Everyone has their red and white on. As they came in, Jack and company were passing out Valentine candy for everyone at the doorway. When we think about Valentine s Day and love, we re apt to think about this deep emotion that s going to fill us with warmth or excitement.
Love is something that speaks more about commitment in our relationship.
Less Traveled, a number of years ago, described love as being committed to someone else s spiritual growth. That doesn t say anything about excitement, about feeling warm inside, about jumping up and down, about anticipating their presence or needing to always be with them. It says that if you really care about somebody, you re relationship is going to be marked by things that are good for the spiritual growth of that person you care about. That s quite a high standard to put to love. A lot of times, love will seem to be something that makes us feel good.