Your words…
The one who says he is in the light but hates his brother is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother remains in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and doesn’t know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes. 1 John 2:9-11
Now this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in Him. 1 John 1:5
My words…
As a kid, I remember Valentine’s Day school parties as being times of great consternation. Each year, I chose a box of flimsy, cartoon-character-infused cards with matching flimsy envelopes to give to each of my classmates. My teacher insisted that every student would receive a valentine from every other student which meant I was forced to give a card to Glen, my arch enemy. I gnashed my teeth. I hated Glen. You were there, Lord, when he punched me in the stomach in kindergarten. You watched him strip a thin branch from a tree and slice a welt across my bare leg while we waited at the bus stop. He was mean. He was a bully. He didn’t deserve a valentine. When I sorted through the cards, I always chose the one I liked the least and gave that one to Glen. It was my only recourse.
Looking back, I remember wishing him ill. During the warm summer days when the neighborhood kids played at the park, I hated when he showed up with his strut and scowl. He didn’t deserve to have fun like the rest of us. He spoiled the fun. When the park director kicked him out for hitting a kid with a knock hockey stick, I gloated. A few years later, Glen and his family moved away, but I never forgot him because he was the first person I hated.
My relationship with Glen was a teaching lesson from You, Jesus. I remember vividly what it felt like to hate. It felt dark. It felt abnormal, and I never wanted to feel that way again. Now I am grown, and I see Glen from a different perspective: a kid who was never happy because there was no happiness in his home. I have had many opportunities to walk the path of hate. I praise You as the One who gives me the wisdom to recognize it for what it is: a dark and dangerous path to tread. I am a child of the light. That is where you want me to dwell. That is where I belong.
Thank You, Lord, for sending me messages of love from Your word, from our meditations, from Your creation. Not just on February 14, but every day.
Valentine’s Day should be a time of sharing love, chocolate and flowers with others, not a day of thinking of those we hate. But then again, perhaps it’s the perfect day to do so.