It is that time of the year again
where I enjoy standing in the grocery store aisle where people are buying
Valentine’s cards. It is especially fun when the February 14 deadline is at
hand. You get to watch people with a “no nonsense” expression on their face walk
briskly toward the card rack hoping to find a card that still has a matching
envelope. To some extent the electronic era is putting a crimp on my fun. Some
have begun expressing their undying love, sacrifice, and fidelity by turning to
a web site offering free e-cards that they were linked to in their Google
search on “Valentine’s Day cards.” Somehow intimate expressions seem better
expressed in a tangible way on an overpriced piece of paper picturing a couple
about 10 years younger and 20 pounds lighter than the sender and their intended.
Of course the card must be slathered with drippy words written by someone else
to express their most personal sentiments of love and affection.
Standing at a
distance, so as not to be elbowed by a frantic consumer, I observe various
approaches to people’s selection. The “swoopers” slow but never really stop at
the card rack. Within seconds they have verified the appropriate gender,
relationship, match of card to envelope, and continue on to the candy isle
without breaking pace. “Flippers” on the other hand stand before the display
and flip the cards over to check the price of the card before reading the
contents that express their priceless love. If a card is not within their range
of fiscal limitations, it is returned to the rack without a further glance.
Then there are the “grazers.” They read every card on the rack until they
narrow their choice to the top three. Then they proceed with great
indecisiveness to alternately put the cards back on the rack, only to pick them
up again. Occasionally, I have felt so sorry for these individuals that I have
wanted to offer to get them a folding chair and a literary adviser to help them
with their decision. There is the rare purchaser for whom I really have no
label. He nonchalantly picks out three different cards (and not for Mom,
auntie, teacher, and friend!) and heads to the checkout. I figure he will have
some other issues to deal with in the near future that are more problematic than
the cost of a card and the sentiment expressed! If one of the recipients of
those cards discovers she was not the sole benefactor of this affectionate expression
from her “sweetheart,” the next card the sender will likely deal with will say,
“Get Well!”
I suppose the real
issue at Valentine’s Day is not the means of the expression, or its monetary
value, or even the method by which a person went about choosing their
expression of love and affection. The real issue is, “Was the declaration real?”
Words can be so empty when they are devoid of reality. How many cards shared on
Valentine’s Day will contain hallow words because what they express is not how
things are? When words are linked with genuine affections that are verified by
credible actions; then the words may be judged as a real declaration. Too often
words are simply a sudden burst of emotional exuberance and not an expression
of intentional investment and commitment. What people want on Valentine’s Day
are real declarations of affection and love. Meaningless sentiments made to
fulfill an obligation associated with a particular day historically connected
to romance is not enough. Reality always trumps mere compliance.
Could this be the way
God looks at people’s declarations of love? Might He ask of those declarations,
“Are they real?” People are pretty casual at times when they declare their love
for God. They may go to a worship service and casually declare their love for
God as they sing. However, did they sing simply because those around them were,
and not because it expressed their reality? Possibly even moments later they had
little recall of what they sang. Or
perhaps someone puts them on the spot and asks them, “Do you love God?” The
immediate response, almost indignant that such a question would need to be
asked of them, “But of course!” Is that a real declaration or one that was
appropriate at the time to save face?
Jesus knew that
people’s declarations might not be genuine so he provided a simple means of
verification. He said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John
14:15). John, a disciple who heard Jesus say this latter wrote, “Let us not
love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18). He said
this because he had seen Jesus express love by more than his words. John
earlier wrote, “By this we know love, because He (Jesus) laid down His life for
us” (3:16). Jesus’ declaration was real. His words were linked with genuine
affections and verified by credible actions. This Valentine’s Day
may our declarations be real too. Not only to people but also to God. Our world
is in desperate need of such declarations.
