(Hi there, it's me. I actually hand wrote this last night--the 14th--but am typing it out today. Why? Because I was sangria and Florence and the Machine drunk. Looking back, I'm surprised that I was this coherent...)
When you think about it, we humans are stupid creatures; we create and socialize events like Valentine's Day to feel something in this big group. The love we share everyday with someone special is supposed to be more amplified. Why is that? Because the greeting card industry tells us it's that way? Big Chocolate? The diabolical Flower Cartel? No, but in this age of cynicism, you'd be forgiven for thinking it's that.
What makes Valentine's Day different is that it's a day set aside to remember a unique martyr. There are conflicting stories about the martyr who we would come to know as St. Valentine. The more common interpretation is that a priest disobeyed the Emperor by marrying christians, then a persecuted minority in the Roman Empire. The emperor had hoped that by outlawing rights such as marriage, he could prevent the spread of christianity. By performing marriages, Valentine was recognizing that we are all humans with emotions and connections that we want recognized in the eyes of those around us.
Legend has it that Valentine was arrested, but as the emperor was fond of him, he was indulged. It was only when he tried to convert the emperor that he was sentenced to death.
Forbidden lovers wanting society to acknowledge and the state to sanction their relationship? Sound familiar, anyone?
We live in an epoch in human history where we construct artificial barriers to the artificial institutions we created, specifically the social and state recognition of the pair-bond. Last century and earlier, it was an artificial barrier of race--two humans of different racial profiles were forbidden by law from pair-bonding. In recent years, the fight has shifted to same-sex and queer relationships.
St. Valentine was martyred because he dared to help members of a persecuted minority get married. We should remember that. That man was beaten and beheaded in the name of a state that wanted to suppress a love, a connection, a pair-bond between two people, for no good reason.
That, to me, is the reason to celebrate love today.
Happy Valentine's Day...
...Wish you were here.
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