Above is a photo I took 3 years ago in the middle of a cold snowy February. I was enjoying the snow and decided that it would be fun to contrast a vase of flowers with the snow in the courtyard. This jug of flowers were giving me pleasure, bringing colour into my flat and cheering up the cold, grey days of February. It has been my policy for decades to buy myself fresh flowers regularly and not wait around for that elusive bouquet of flowers sent from family, a friend or an admirer.
February the 14th comes around every year and most years I take a self righteous judgmental stand and look down from my place of intellectual superiority on Valentines day. It is easy to brush it off as another commercially driven waste of money and painful day for anyone who is not expecting flowers, chocolates, a romantic meal and a heartfelt poetic card.
Today I was looking at the history of St. Valentine and was surprised to find how far we have come from the root of this saints day.
Saint Valentine was a priest of Rome, holding the position of Bishop of Terni, Narnia and Amelia, a town of Umbria, in central Italy. Now I love Italy (my name has Roman roots - Giulia) and I never realised that Narnia actually existed as a real town in Italy and not just a figment of C S Lewis's imagination!
So now this priest has my attention and I am interested. He must have annoyed someone in government and ended up under house arrest, living under the eye of Judge Asterius. During this time of house arrest our Roman priest would discuss his faith with the judge and the validity of Jesus.
' Jesus continued going around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness.'
Matthew 9: 35 The Bible
Judge Asterius decided to put Valentinus to the test and brought to him his own adopted blind daughter. If Jesus was the healer, then the priest should have no problem in restoring the girl's sight. And if he could heal the girl's sight, Asterius would do whatever he asked.
Valentinus laid his hands on her eyes and the child's vision was restored.
Immediately humbled, the judge asked Valentinus what he should do. Valentinus replied that all of the idols around the judge's house should be broken, and that the judge should fast for three days and then undergo baptism. The judge obeyed and, as a result, freed all the Christian inmates under his authority and the judge, his family, and his forty-four member household (family members and servants) were baptized.
Priest Valentinus was later arrested again for continuing to proselytize and was sent to the prefect of Rome, to the emperor Claudius Gothicus (Claudius II) himself. Claudius took a liking to him until Valentinus tried to convince Claudius to embrace Christianity, whereupon Claudius refused and condemned Valentinus to death, commanding that Valentinus either renounce his faith or he would be beaten with clubs, and beheaded.
St Valentine continued to refuse to denounce his faith in Christ and so he was sentenced to be beaten & beheaded. On the day of his execution - FEBRUARY 14TH - he wrote a note to the judges adopted daughter, the girl healed from blindness and signed it ...
‘ Your Valentine '
What an amazing history Valentines day has! I wonder what that note to the healed little girl actually said before the iconic words ... Your Valentine. I like to imagine that the girl was called Rafaella, a derivative of Raphael, healed by God. (Jehovah Rapha - God the healer) Here is my imagined note written by the priest about to lose his life.
" Ciao Rafaella,
I'm going home. See you on the other side. Always remember you are loved by the one who came to rescue you and heal you. He will never let you go.
x Your Valentine "
So now I look at Valentines day through different eyes. Any self pity that might try and arise from the expectations of flowers, cards, chocolates and a romantic meal have been replaced.
What we are actually saying when we write ... BE MY VALENTINE is
Be the one who introduces me to Jesus
Be the one who enters heaven before me
It is not about how much I can receive in the way of attention but how much I can give away of myself. It is not so much about that one exclusive romantic relationship but more about how many people can I love well. Who can I lift up and encourage, who can I care for and carry?
It is ultimately about what I believe and who I have believed in, JESUS. The one who healed the eyes of a blind adopted girl all those years ago and is still healing all who come to Him today. He is the same yesterday, today and forever.
Fortunately these are not just tales of old. I have seen miracles and hear about them every week. The same Jesus who healed when He walked on the earth is doing the same stuff today in 2018 as He did all those years ago and as He did for this little blind girl.
I believe in miracles. How could I deny them when in my own body I carry the healing from a terrible car crash that crushed my arm and should have left my left arm paralysed? Jesus healed the ripped nerve in my left arm and gave me movement again in my arm.
Interestingly He used a group of orphaned children with imagination, hope, belief and faith to bring my healing. This is how it came about ...
I had crossed over the border from South Africa to work at Montgomery children's home in Zimbabwe during the school holidays. This was just over a month after I had survived a bad car crash in South Africa which had left my nose broken and my left arm shattered into many pieces. The broken bone of my upper arm had to be put back together like a puzzle and screwed onto a metal plate. In the accident one of the the nerves in my left arm was ripped apart and this injury meant the nerve no longer sent messages from my brain to the muscles in my hand. As a result my left hand hung limp and useless. My hand and lower wrist area had to be wrapped up in a support to keep it in position and stop it hanging.
Every Sunday at Montgomery we had a church service. It was a couple of weeks into my stay during the Sunday church service that I decided to go forward and request prayer for my semi-paralysed arm. A group of the kids came forward and laid hands on my arm and prayed for my left arm to be healed. Nothing happened and I went back to my seat.
Up until this time I had been unable to reach out and use my left arm to carry anything but an hour or two later during Sunday lunch I reached out for the pepper pot with my left hand and picked it up. It took a second or two before the penny dropped and I realised my arm was healed! I picked up the pepper pot in my left hand and thought, well look at that ... it works. I'm healed !!
And that was it, simple, unemotional and a miracle. Yes, there it was, my left hand was suddenly strong and able to reach out and carry weight. My own healing. Just like that. In the middle of nowhere, on a random Sunday all those years ago.
So what can I say in conclusion as I reflect on Valentines Day ... I am glad Saint Valentine stuck to his guns, talked about his beloved Jesus and had his head chopped off for it. And I'm glad that we have a Saints day to remember him.
But more importantly I am glad for JESUS the healer who is still busy healing the sick on planet earth today. I am glad for an adopted girl who received her eyesight. I'm glad for a group of orphaned kids in Zimbabwe who prayed for my healing. Little boys and girls abandoned by poor parents who had no way to look after them. Children who could have many reasons to feel rejected, carrying bitterness and anger. Children who have embraced Jesus and his healing and prayed for my healing.
And I remember the many Christians around the world who like Saint Valentine are being killed for this same faith today.
'' Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it.'
Song of Solomon - The Bible