By Winnie Bolton
Yes, I’ll say it again and again, year after year – Valentine’s Day is my very favorite day.
Why?
Simply because it has to do with the heart and the heart is a mystery to be discovered.
To everything there is a season – and a time to heal – a time to mourn and a time to laugh; a time to weep and a time to dance. The heart also has seasons. Sometimes, it is winter, experiencing sadness and hurt and sometimes it is spring, expressing moments of hope and growth.
After such periods and seasons of progress, we must learn to let go and let God. If we don’t let past hurts be left in the past and move on, then the past becomes our present hell.
If God can forgive you and me of our past offenses and others of the pain by which they were hurt, then why can’t we, too, forgive others?
Now, I come to the heart of the mystery.
Not to forgive for whatever reason is not to do the necessary heart surgery because the heart will never heal on its own. Forgiveness is for always as we slowly come to see that forgiveness needs to be a way of life.
If we do not forgive, then the anger, hurt or loss of peace is no longer caused by the person who hurt us, it is caused by ourselves.
When we choose not to forgive – and forgiveness is a choice and not a feeling – and hold a grudge, then the enemy (the tormentor) is given the space to freely occupy our mind and heart.
Once we forgive we might still fight anger and hurt in our hearts but this only means we need to keep renewing our choice to forgive – then peace will come.
Each Valentine’s Day, I become more in tune with this exploration of love. Choosing to love one another can produce the euphoric sensation of tenderness – godliness.
This day only occurs once a year but its real gift is to remind us of the golden opportunity to redefine the true meaning of love – the powerful subtlety of holiness, goodness, purity with no strings attached.
I fell in love at the tender age of 19 while a sophomore in college. At 21, I married this darling husband of mine, however, I needed the living experience of stumbling through the ups and downs of married life to realize the gold I had struck way back then.
As usual, I will miss my sweetheart’s playful pranks on my favorite day.
