Reflection for Thursday, Feb 14

Romans 3: 21-31

"For there is no distinction , since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; for they are now justified by God's grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus..."

All of us fall short. This is a great lesson that love in a committed relationship teaches us. Romance is wonderful--it is full of fantasy. We can play the best version of ourselves and believe in the best version of the other person. It is a time when our life truly feels like a movie and all seems possible. It reminds us of the great things we want for our life and the great love we want to transform the world. Romance promises new beginnings whether it is your first Valentine's Day or your fiftieth. But what balances romantic love is committed love. This is love that picks you back up when the fantasy falls flat, when the movie film goes static, when you realize you don't always want to be the hero or heroine, but sometimes you just want to fade into the background and be loved anyway. God's love doesn't make a distinction between the best version of ourselves and the one that falls short. God loves us for our endless possibilities and loves us in our shortcomings too.

Last night, a few of us discussed our Valentine's Day menu:
"I'm making the only dish I know, meatloaf, but I'm experimenting with a new side of tabouleh. (I'm nervous about this.)"
"We'll skip dinner all-together and just graze on chips and salsa as usual. It's more relaxing that way."
"I'm making seared diver scallops with a blackbean/mango/passionfruit salsa and crabmeat crepes tied with chives. I've been planning this forever!"
"It's not about us, but the kids, we'll work as a family, filling mugs with candy for their classes."

The people and the plans were so diverse in their ideas of romance and of commitment, who could compare them. They each showed something beautiful about their hope in love and comfort with their beloved. Me, I made Magnolia-recipe cupcakes as David laid down linoleum over our wood floor to protect a soon-to-be crawling James from the splinters we often get. Later, our neighbors came by with champagne to celebrate some surprising good news they'd received that day. Our day would definitely fall short of a romantic movie, but it was full of love: the love that comes from being accepted for the small efforts we make to delight each other with lopsided cupcakes, the love that comes in showing an appreciation for safety through a baby-proof apartment, or the love that comes in being the first friends to call with good news. I couldn't feel this love without the knowledge that David, our neighbors, myself, and everyone with whom I'm in relationship have at one time fallen short, perhaps even fell short today, the most idealistic day of the year, but that we are loved still. And God loves us still.

By Rev. Beth

Post your Valentine's Day stories below: past or present!