Come down O love divine / Seek thou this soul of mine

I'm not particularly fussed about Valentine's day. I am single, but this day isn't enough to make me miserable about that fact :) I don't get too het up about the commercialisation and high (often unrealistic) expectations that attend it - the same can be said about other "festival days" we celebrate. I do think it would be a shame if we only thought about love and the people we love on this day, and only ever made an effort to tell or show them what they mean to us this one time a year. What about the other 364 days of the year? And frankly, I'm likely to be more thrilled and touched at someone making me a cup of tea, doing the washing up or a grocery run, or giving me an affectionate squeeze, for no other reason than it's Tuesday and they love me! Though flowers are always nice, of course :)

But if we're going to be thinking about love particularly around this time, then I think it's important to remember all the different types of love we're blessed with - not just of the lovers, but of family, friends, and God; the big one, that makes all the others possible. 

Which is really what made today one of the nicest valentines I've ever experienced. It was J's licensing as our full-time chaplain and a room full of people from different parts of her life,  who love her and wish her well, gathered to celebrate a service of welcome for her. And that's what it was - a celebration of love, for this woman who has dedicated herself to love and service, as all our chaplains do. So I got to do something truly meaningful today, and I got to share the afternoon with quite a few people who happen to mean a lot to me!

We all seek love, don't we? It's what makes us human. Yet so does God - as much as we want to be loved, He loves us and yearns to be loved, freely, in return. Not because of what He can do for us, but just because. Isn't that the best "reason" to love someone - just because?

"And so the yearning strong,

with which the soul will long, 

shall far outpass the power of human telling;

for none can guess its grace, 

'til Love create a place

wherein the Holy Spirit makes a dwelling."

Love you!