Welcome to another week. Since Ash Wednesday falls on Valentine’s Day I think it’s an opportunity to redeem this day.
I mean, really. Valentine’s Day has to be one of the most miserable days on the calendar for many people of all ages. Marketers make you feel worthless if you don’t get the perfect romantic greeting card, roses, chocolate, a candlelight dinner at an expensive restaurant, and fine jewelry. Honestly! How much more demanding could they be?
Christmas, despite all the advertising hype, is better, because you can give or receive a gift without romance being a factor. But Valentine’s Day is all about romance, and I think that’s what makes it such a killer.
If you’re a kid, Valentine’s Day is an opportunity for bullies to really flex their muscles. I remember the stab of embarrassment I felt in fourth grade when a boy dropped a valentine on my desk and said, “I’m only giving you this because I have to.”
I vividly recall the thrill of getting a heart-shaped lollipop in eighth grade from a boy who had a crush on me. National Honors Society sold them with notes attached. My friends, who didn’t receive these tokens, felt so awful. Lots of friends bought their friends lollipops, but it wasn’t the same as getting one from a boy, and we all knew it.
It doesn’t get easier with age. When you’re in high school or college and you spend Valentine’s Day alone, you still feel awful. You know you’re getting older, and no boy seems to think you’re worthy of his attention.
And what if you’re divorced, widowed, or in a miserable marriage? I wonder how many people begin counseling or check into psychiatric hospitals around Valentine’s Day. It’s a tough holiday all around, one that I think needs to be either erased from the calendar or redeemed somehow.
Going to an Ash Wednesday service and remembering that it signals the beginning of a 40-day period of reflection on Jesus’ death and resurrection is a good place to start. You could use it as an opportunity to spend time with people who would otherwise be alone on Valentine’s Day. Treat a recently divorced or widowed friend to lunch at a locally owned restaurant. Or maybe attend a friend’s church service instead of your own to show him or her your support and friendship. Just something to think about.
There are ample opportunities to remember the Lenten season in the Atlantic community. Many area churches are having Ash Wednesday services. Fallowfield United Methodist Church’s is at 7 p.m. Jamestown Presbyterian Church is hosting a tactile Ash Wednesday service at 7 p.m., as well. It’s supposed to be a very powerful experience. I’ll be attending it for the first time this year.
Jamestown Presbyterian is hosting Lenten soup dinners on February 17, 24, and March 10 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. It’s a simple meal of soup and bread. Proceeds benefit the youth trip mission fund. The youth group is going on a mission trip to Alaska in July. I hope you can come support this worthy cause.
Calvary United Methodist Church in Greenville is hosting Lenten luncheons again this year. The first is on Wednesday, February 21, at 11:30 a.m.
Fallowfield United Methodist Church volunteers made 294 chicken pies on February 3. They were all sold by the end of the day. Profits will be distributed to missionaries around the world. We will make chicken pies again on February 17, starting at 8 a.m. You may order pies by calling Allen and Joyce Jacobs at (814) 382-3124. Pies cost $12 and may be picked up at the church by noon on February 17.
Fallowfield United Methodist is hosting a Cooking for Crowds course on March 12, from 6 to 9 p.m. Anyone who cooks for the public or sells homemade food to the public should take this course. Once you’ve passed the quiz at the end of the class, you’re covered for three years. At least this is my understanding of it.
Have a wonderful week. Blessings!