Early this morning before the sun even showed any signs of the dawn rising, I woke up to the sounds of squeaking and squealing. Having a bit of a phobia around mice from working at a fishing camp during university years, I am very attuned to squeaky like sounds. The sounds seemed to becoming through the wall. No way. So peeking out the window I saw the root of the squeak and squeal….two skunks doing the mumbo jumbo. You know…. getting it on. It was still fairly dark so I could just make out there were two of them. One seemed to be fully black while the other had the characteristic black and white stripe of the mephitidae. And then much to my chagrin, they chased each other around the winter maze that I had cut out in the snow for grandchild. Unfortunately. Yeah, for mating season. Love is in the air. Bleh. Pepé Le Pew and Fleur de stinkerbelle, can’t quite smell the love.
Let the love grow. Be visible. Shine. Speak. For Valentines Day is upon us. A day set aside once a year for love, expressing one’s love, or getting the courage to. Where there is a bit of hope for that special note or message or gift to be found in the mailbox, snail mail or email, showing you are thought of in a most special way. I wonder did Charlie Brown ever get his Valentine just for him? Standing beside the mailbox, waiting with bated breath, to get that elusive but much wanted Be Mine Valentine card, he never left. No matter how many times I have watched A Charlie Brown Valentine over and over and, it does not change….no “Be Mine” card. Nor does Charlie Brown give up; the eternal optimist for ‘maybe this time’.
Oh to bring back the innocence of bygone days in elementary school. Where an afternoon was dedicated to having a Valentine party. Desks pushed back, games galore, music, table full of foods (peanut allergies and non-homemade things not an issue), dancing, and red freshie. A day or two was dedicated earlier to making the classroom shine love with hearts and heart people and shape poetry or limerick about love and kindness. (We could use that these days). Red and pink hues dotting the walls. And then time was given to creating the piece to resistance, the ‘love’ mailbox. A little bit of construction paper, markers/crayons, glue, scissors and maybe even glitter and voila….a plain old shoe box or cereal box or even a brown paper bag …transformed into a vessel of hope. An eternal hope that the mailbox would be filled with cards and oh my, even a sweet candy or two. Do you remember the Sweetheart candies with the little words imprinted of love on them?
I remember going out and getting the Valentine cards with my mom, making sure there was enough to be given out. I would look at the thematic choices carefully because there had to be ‘boy’ ones and ‘girl’ ones and then very special ones. Oh yes one can’t forget those secret crushes. Very interesting to reflect back as I think about how some cards were kind of blah looking while others were more ‘love’ like and then the carefulness of who got what. Goodness sake you do not want to give anyone the wrong idea!! Especially as my mom reminded us kids to always remember how it would feel not to get a card. Thank goodness for class lists. Then the dreaded and anticipated telling part….the opening up the ‘mailbox’. How many cards did I get in the ‘mailbox’? Anticipation. Lunch bag let down. Who likes me? Maybe someone likes me.
It’s those words. Two maybe three simple words somewhere in a note or message or gesture saying I LIKE YOU. Or the more jittery heart pumping out of the park words of I LOVE YOU. Like or love….the four lettered, simple, no nonsense, spine tingling, unexpected word that you want to hear. From someone, anyone. Haha. No not just anyone. THE one. It takes me back to Randy Sageman, my first real crush. The ONE. He sat at the back of the room in my grade 6/7 class while I sat at the front. I’m not sure if he was in grade 6 or 7. Yikes! Is that like a cougar thing? Going for a younger man. Anyway I can still picture him with his dark brown curly hair and big eyes. He like to run and so did I. Cannot even remember if I ever talked to him. Knowing me I probably just beat him in a foot race or some other sport activity and left him in the dust so to speak. Did not have the flirty skills or the giggles that other girls did? But, did I wait at my ‘mailbox’ on Valentines Day, hoping for a Be Mine? Probably.
Being given a Be Mine in whatever way is a beautiful feeling indeed. It might not be in a romantic way but to know you are liked. To know you are loved. Someone takes the time to reveal to you that you are special to them or you to them. Yes, it may not be reciprocated in the way one hopes but it is not about that. It is giving oneself permission and how it unfolds, it unfolds. What is that quote, “it is better to have loved than not at all.” Something like that. Anyway, however you do it, whether with flowers or chocolates or candy or cards. Or for goodness sake, actually saying the words face to face. Today is the day on Valentines Day. A day dedicated to, set aside for, giving attention around, the like or love of one person towards another, you grab it. Allow it to seep in, twirl around, and get the heart pitter-pattering for a hot minute.
In a Letter from apostle Peter (1 Peter 1:22), “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart,” I welcome his sharing of ‘love one another deeply’. A sense of a deeper love of the human heart to another. Is that not what we are asked to do? Love our neighbour with the heart, our heart. Valentines Day, a day full of hearts and hearts everywhere, is the day of hearts full of the promise. Look beyond the chocolates and flowers and candy and cards and poetry. Or the text or twitter or email or snapchat or FB or blog or hashtag or video chat or…. whew, the list is crazy long. And just see what are you are saying on this day…. Be MINE. So Charlie Brown does not have to guess anymore.
In the words of Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, author and lecturer, “Our heart knows what our mind has forgotten – it knows the sacred that is within all that exists, and through a depth of feeling we can once again experience this connection, this belonging.”
Oh be mine, today. Blessings.
Let us pray for those who are need of prayers and for the hope of always feeling the love and like of others.
PS Feel the love. Happy Valentines.
“If you love them in the morning with their eyes full of crust; if you love them at night with their hair full of rollers, chances are, you’re in love.” Miles Davis
“I was married by a judge. I should’ve asked for a jury.” Groucho Marx
“As a man in a relationship, you have two choices: You can be right, or you can be happy.” Ralphie May
“Love can change a person the way a parent can change a baby—awkwardly, and often with a great deal of mess.” Lemony Snicket
“Love is an hourglass, with the heart filling up as the brain empties.” Jules Renard
Love leaves a message from the heart….
I need to upgrade the power of my glasses because I’m blindly in love with you.
“If you were a library book, I would check you out.”
“I’m no photographer, but I can picture us together.
“Are you from Starbucks because I like you a latte.”
“Are you a loan? ‘Cause you’ve got my interest!”
“Are you tired? ‘Cause you’ve been runnin’ through my mind all day!”
Karenpondering 