Valentine’s Day is this Friday, a leisure activity of Hallmark, and for
weeks the stores have been having sales for it. From candy to beer to pajama
grams and anything else to fatten their wallet and thin out yours, Valentine’s
Day is big business. With gifts I don’t get, figuratively and literally, like
giving candy to girls who diet all the time and dead flowers. Taking them out
to an expensive meal you know they won’t eat. Maybe a gift or two, and then
it’s back to normal, whatever that may be. From preschool kids to seniors, we
will be sending cards and getting cards, and I have it twice as expensive, my
anniversary is four days after. Fortunately I am blessed by a wife of going on
42 years, candy is dandy, so we have it here all the time. No dead flowers, and
the Money Pit works just fine, with a stop for a Culver’s custard if by one, we
tend to get away on our anniversary. Our love is not based on Hallmark or a
holiday, and if it is, we celebrate everyday. With lots of hugs and kisses to
show for it.
Back when BH and I started terrorizing the roads of New Jersey, I signed my
year book kisses, so he signed his hugs, how original. Hugs and kisses for two
friends trying to be cute, at least the girls thought it was, and to this day I
still sign many things kisses. No OX for me, it’s like Xmas for Christmas, it
don’t fly here. But before my pal and fellow patriot, and all around good guy
Father Al died, he explained a standing joke he has had since grade school.
Even in Catholic school the girls gave him Valentines signed OX and OX, and he
wasn’t sure what an ox had to do with the fellow in the diapers shooting
arrows. After it was explained, he countered it by signing off OXEN. “OXEN?” I
asked. “Yes, two oxes are referred to as oxen, so I abbreviated it. And so it
was and was until his passing, signing off OXEN, a way of saying he loved and
respected you. No candy or flowers, but there is this Mexican food restaurant
by the Flight 93 Chapel we used to go to if you insist....
So with Valentines Day almost here, and coupled with President’s Day this
weekend, the ads are alive, from furniture to cars, to waterbeds, to whatever
they want to sell you you may not need, but think you do, even Hallmark has a
card for it. So we are taking the easy way out, and going away, long after your
candy is gone, your flowers thrown away, and your VISA bill still collecting
interest, we will be sharing memories of our anniversary and Valentine’s Day,
things that last. If I have to explain you probably won’t get it, except the
bills for candy and flowers. Just not at our house....but any chocolate
donations are excepted, and accepted.
Reading a Harley ad this morning, it says “Rumble beats roses any time.” I
think they mean the sound of their exhaust. And if you spend $150 you get a
free tote bag, a $9.95 value, that cost them $3.00. I guess with inflation the
HD which used to stand for hundred dollars now is $150. Everybody wants a piece
of you and me. And who we finally give ourselves over to will make an eternal
difference. The Bible tells of four kinds of love, love of man, of things, of a
sinning type of love, and agape, the love God can only have for us. The love of
your spouse should be different than the love of your ride, and the love of God
for us is never compromised. So God made agape a unique gift of love, one that
only he can give and that we can only receive. Eros, the sin of love, is
evident everywhere. One night stands, pornography, affairs, and too many things
on TV that are now accepted, but still sin. Eros was the Greek god a son of
Chaos, reflecting the emptiness of the universe. He is better referred to as a
one night stand to fulfill a sexual urge, and he is the one that is the angel
with the bow and arrows, wanting to lead us into any immoral sex and draw us
away from God’s love. Seems those little cards with him are not so innocent.
And by being hit with one of is arrows, we fall prey to him and his desires, he
now owns us. Still think candy is dandy...
It is not how much but the fact we miss at all that means hell. Not at all
the kind of love God has for us or the plans he has for us. For decades I have
listened to not so bright theologians debate what is the will of God, when it is
plain in the Bible. He wants us saved and to seek Jesus and be forgiven. No
potions or gifts, no special day to do it on, today is fine, but he will is we
are with him in heaven, our relationship with him restored. Like the gospel,
simple so we can get it, and free so we can afford it. A true love that goes
far beyond sudden impulses and emotions, the love Jesus has for us, that he gave
his life so we can be saved. Giving, and we get to receive. Jesus offers
agape, the world offers Valentines. A day that is significant only if
commercial and cultural, with none of God’s love, but plenty of man’s. Where
the words mean little, and only are spoken because such a day advertises it and
encourages it. Far from the encouragement the spirit offers...
Started to honor a pope, rather than God, and to gain favor with him,
rather than with God. Yet we all fall into the trap, if only we could focus on
eternity. Which will surpass all Valentine’s Days, and save us money on cards
and candy. Now I am not anti-Valentine’s Day, only what it has become. So why
not try this, love God everyday, thanking Jesus for the gift of life he gave us,
and see how your attitude towards love changes. All Jesus asks of us is to love
him, and then our neighbors. Not to represent him in any way but who he is.
And what he did. If you need a holiday or Hallmark card to show love maybe
something is missing, the agape God offers. You see long before cards, he wrote
his love on your heart, so you always have him and it with you. It goes deeper
than any candy or flowers, and is more alive today than before we accepted it.
So while cleverly worded cards are sent this week, remember the words of Jesus,
who died for us and reunites us with God and his agape love. “If you love me
keep my commandments,” the ones of love, of which there are no laws against.
So before you love your job, your Harley, and a quickie, try an eternal love
above all else. Until Jesus is the hallmark of your life, no Hallmark card will
ever come close to the love he has for us. Your choice, one night or every
night. So to BH, kisses, and the rest of you,
OXEN,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com