Holiday??? . . .

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(from https://www.history.com/news/6-surprising-facts-about-st-valentine)
1. The St. Valentine who inspired the holiday may have been two different men.
Officially recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, St. Valentine is known to be a real person who died around A.D. 270. However, his true identity was questioned as early as A.D. 496 by Pope Gelasius I. . .  One account from the 1400s describes Valentine as a temple priest who was beheaded near Rome by the emperor Claudius II for helping Christian couples wed. A different account claims Valentine was the Bishop of Terni, also martyred by Claudius II on the outskirts of Rome.

2. In all, there are about a dozen St. Valentines, plus a pope. . .
The official Roman Catholic roster of saints shows about a dozen who were named Valentine or some variation thereof.

3. Valentine is the patron saint of beekeepers and epilepsy, among many other things.

4. You can find Valentine’s skull in Rome.

5. English poet Geoffrey Chaucer may have invented Valentine’s Day. . .
No record exists of romantic celebrations on Valentine’s Day prior to a poem Chaucer wrote around 1375. In his work “Parliament of Foules,” he links a tradition of courtly love with the celebration of St. Valentine’s feast day–an association that didn’t exist until after his poem received widespread attention.

6. You can celebrate Valentine’s Day several times a year. . .
you might decide to celebrate St. Valentine of Viterbo on November 3. Or . . . St. Valentine of Raetia on January 7. . . (or) the only female St. Valentine (Valentina), a virgin martyred in Palestine on July 25, A.D. 308. The Eastern Orthodox Church officially celebrates St. Valentine twice, once as an elder of the church on July 6 and once as a martyr on July 30.

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Gee, Thanks!. . .

. . . Most holidays really bother me. It's just me. Many times I feel like we set aside a special day, we give it a name, we develop a tradition involving some specific ceremonial details like fireworks, trees, gifts and always food (one the better parts of the process). But the purpose of the observance is usually to honor, remember, be thankful for someone or something for which honor, remembrance or thanks should be a regular part of our lives. I don't know, it just seems like we pull it out of a drawer or closet every year, dust it off and play with it for a day, then put it away to be forgotten until next time- usually a year later. Is 'contrived' the word I'm looking for.

This is why I have a particular dislike of what I usually call the "Hallmark" holidays. You know them, Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Babies Day, Doggie Day and Dog Day Afternoon. . . the list goes on. And my dislike developed in my early adult years. I have (had) no problem acknowledging and thanking my Mother, for example, for all her love, care and sacrifice devoted to me and the whole family. But after childhood and all fun of picking out that greeting card, I began to think that it was a bit shallow, or should I say narrow, to whip out this gratitude only one day a year. I think it diminished the magnitude of the very thing it attempted to honor by confining it neatly to one day and conveniently making the greeting card (and in some cases, a complete industry so money could be made-which is another story completely) to commemorate the occasion.

I'm not saying I ignore these 'holidays' or special days. I would be a complete outcast if I tried. (And my wife would probably divorce me.) They are, as it is said, what they are. I do try to make the best of them but still voice my thanks, gratitude, love, honor etc. to or about the things about which I feel very strongly throughout the entire year and not singly on the 'one' day designated.

And on this Thanksgiving day, since I agree with John Shelby Spong that there is no person-like God who is intimately invested in the minutiae of human life and to whom I am obliged to offer these thanks for fear of punishment or desire of a heavenly afterlife, I offer my thanks directly to the sources to whom I am grateful. First and foremost, my best friend, love of my life, housemate, soulmate, co-parent of our wonderful sons- my wife Pam. Thanks Hon! (Yes, I'm from Baltimore) And this year I am thinking about some old friends who probably not fully aware of the influence they exerted upon me during certain periods of my development, have now re-entered my life and have brought back not only wonderful memories, have brought a new dimension to my present life, Clint and Jay.

Gee, Thanks.





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