[Please imagine Haddaway is serenading you with his sensational What is Love? (click the link for such a serenade as you read). It's Valentine's Day!]

Really, I’ve never loved Valentine’s Day. I especially don’t love it now that I’ve graduated the fifth grade and no longer receive Valentine’s cards and candy from every classmate. That was superb. But I think I prefer Arbor Day now.

[Were it not for Valentine's Day, though, we may have never had this, which had me bellowing in laughter yesterday].

As I ponder the “holiday of love,” I can’t help but notice our society’s lack of understanding of love. February 14 is the annual celebration of an ambiguous, uncertain idea that is defined differently by all.

Yet, for being such a curious concept, love gets a great deal of attention from us. It’s applied to almost everything–– television, chocolate, garments, and beaches. Every media expression has taken a stab at defining it, and philosophers have ceaselessly strived to put it into the most brilliant arrangements of words they can assemble. And all for not; a dominant conclusion has yet to be reached. The Pope says one thing while Gandhi, Johnny Cash, Dr. Phil, and Zooey Deschanel all say another–– all with a certain layer of mystery.

And the ambiguity doesn’t stop in Hollywood/ Nashville/ the Vatican/ the philosophical arena. It’s distinct in the lives of average Americans. In a contest going on today, the New York Times challenged readers to define love. Some compare it to the measles–– something necessary which is to be endured. Others call it “the only power that can change the world.” And some limit it to a hormonal reaction.The most popular Christian answer to the question of love is derived from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.

[And, for me, here's the windfall of the holiday].

Most of us are quite familiar with this verse. Many of us, I’m sure, could use this as a reminder of how to treat our Valentine. But, more than that, I’d like to remind us of the One who is love itself–– the One whose character is a perfect canvas of the above characteristics.

Love is a man. A Man. Look no further, Haddaway–– there is a clear answer to your question. Jesus.

When He walked among us, He was a walking definition. “Love” was written all over him. He dealt a death blow to ambiguity and was a perfect representation of His Father, Who is love.

Let this Valentine’s Day be not only a time to receive chocolates and smooches and cards. Let it be a time to receive Love Himself. Don’t dance around philosophically obscure ideas of “love”–– one of the most used, but undefined words, in our culture. But rejoice at the definition–– Jesus. He came, in part, to diffuse so much mystery. And the mystery of love was one He made expressly clear through every action and breath, word and gesture, smile and frown.

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This entry was posted by Jules on Sunday, February 14th, 2010 at 2:05 pm. It is filed under Miscellaneous and has these tags: Jesus, Relationships. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.