Love & The Global Valentine

Waking Point

by Helen Noakes

“The greatest degree of inner tranquility comes from the development of love and compassion. The more we care for the happiness of others, the greater is our own sense of well-being.”—Tenzin Gyatso, 14^th Dalai Lama

SAN FRANCISCO, CA—(Weekly Hubris)—1/31/11—February boasts two holidays: The Lunar New Year, on February 3rd (the Chinese designated this year as The Year of The Rabbit); and St. Valentine’s Day, which celebrates love on February 14th.

In the US, the rites of St. Valentine’s Day involve gifts of candy, flowers, cards, and all manner of delightfully frivolous and sometimes naughty tidbits.

The fact is that there is not one St. Valentine, but many. As was its custom, Christianity chose to convert the Roman feast of Lupercalia, honoring Juno, the goddess of women and marriage, into a Christian holiday venerating all the Valentines on one day. Lupercalia was celebrated—you guessed it—on February 14th.

St. Valentine is an elusive figure. The fact is that he might be representative of several individuals, all associated with good works of some sort.

One Valentine in particular was martyred in Rome for joining Christian couples in matrimony, at a time when such ceremonies, let alone unions, were discouraged. Well, discouraged might be too weak a word for getting one’s head lopped off, but you get the picture. I like to think that this St. Valentine, the friend of lovers everywhere, is the one we celebrate on the 14^th. It seems somehow appropriate that, to our culture, his feast day has become associated with love.

It seems appropriate, as well, that the word “love,” with its endless permutations of meaning, be associated with numerous saints of the same name.

Love is a four-letter-word whose use has never been banned but, somehow, it never seems to be used enough. My friend Joshua Abramson has started a campaign to change that fact (see www.iloveyouworld.org for details). If he has his way, we’d begin every greeting or encounter with “I love you.” Imagine that! No! Really! Imagine it. “I love you” is easy enough to say to our loved ones—or is it—but to perfect strangers?

If you believe, as I do, that words have power, unleashing the power of love into the world is much to be desired, and an exercise that’s sorely needed.

Consider the state of our nation, if not the world. Consider the recent developments in which I believe hate speech fueled an act of horrific violence. It killed a child, grievously injured a woman, and for what?

What would happen if all those pundits, radio and TV hate talkers, political and celebrity figures who spew divisiveness and rage, what if all of these people were urged by you, the public, to leave off with their incendiary fury? What if you, the public, challenged these people to end their deleterious diatribes and begin delivering messages of hope, reconciliation, healing and reason?

Pie in the sky? Maybe. But we’d be a hell of a lot better off than we are right now. When will we, the public, say, “ENOUGH!”

We might not be ready to turn to the stranger next to us and say, “I love you,” but we most certainly can behave in a compassionate and responsible way.

A smile, a greeting, goes a long way. I’ve seen people’s faces light up, their sagging shoulders straighten. Some respond, others not, but every one of them becomes just a little brighter. Like flowers turning to the sun, they light up. Besides being fun, it lights you up as well.

After you’ve done that, the next step is easy. Do something for someone, some creature in need, the planet. The more you do, the more it becomes a habit and, as the Dalai Lama points out, your behavior enhances your wellbeing. Everyone benefits.

There are thousands of possibilities, thousands of organizations which provide opportunities to engage in acts of compassion, to express your love for the world. I’m not referring to donations of money, although that helps, but giving of your time, donating useable items (we all have much too much), taking a moment to reach out: all these things matter. All these things create change for the better.

Here are some possibilities:

www.thehungersite.com—this site appears with a number of tabs: hunger, breast cancer, child health, literacy, rainforest, and animal rescue. It takes a minute to click on each of them and click on the “Give Free” window that appears on each site. Do this daily; it helps.

www.doctorswithout borders.org

www.locksoflove.org

www.weedouthate.org

www.hrw.org (Human Rights Watch)

www.amnesty.org (Amnesty International)

www.mowaa.org (Meals on Wheels Association of America)

www.bestfriends.org (Best Friends Animal Shelter)

Write to this columnist with other suggestions you might have and share them with our worldwide readership.

By all means, send card, flowers, candies, and gifts to your loved ones this Valentine’s Day, but why not as well give a little gift of love to those in need in our beleaguered world?

To my Chinese Friends, “Gung Chee Fat Tsoi” (no snickering, it’s the best I can do with the English alphabet). Happy Year of the Rabbit!

To all of you, Happy Valentine’s Day!

To this planet and all its creatures, I love you!