February - the month of love

   Ok, so we may not love the groundhog very much on the 2nd if he gives us a prediction of another six weeks of winter before spring arrives, but with Valentines Day falling right in the middle of this month, how can you not focus on love?

   Saint Valentine was a priest in Rome, or a bishop in Terni, Italy during the reign of Emperor Claudius II, around 270 A.D. According to legend, he was arrested for performing secret marriage ceremonies for young couples in defiance of the Emperor's orders. Claudius was of the belief that single men made better warriors, since they were not worrying about the women they had left behind. St. Valentine was ultimately killed for his actions on February 14.

   However, there is another day falling in February this year that shows a greater love than any human could ever have for another.  Ash Wednesday floats around because Easter floats around based on the lunar calendar: the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. This was decided in 325 AD to coincide with the Jewish festival of Passover, also linked to the lunar cycles. This year, Ash Wednesday lands on February 18th. Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, when we are reminded again of how much God loves us. He was willing to come here as a human, to grow and suffer as we do, then to die on the cross for what we had done wrong. Even for those of us that were not here at that time. Jesus died for all of our sins for all of time. Can there be any greater love than that?

  Paul in his first letter to Corinthians, Chapter 13 pointed out that if there is no love, you have nothing.

 “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”  NIV Version

Your Sister in Christ,

Teresa Cooksey