It’s Valentine’s day again and so I decided I wanted to write something about not only the man St. Valentine but Love itself. So let the rambling being :)

No one is even really sure of who Valentine (Valentio, Valentinus) was, he might have been one priest/martyr/saint or he could be a conglomeration of a few martyrs or priests from Ancient Rome.
Believe it or not St. Valentine is the patron saint of bee keepers…amongst other things. He wasn’t even included in the original list of saints/martyrs from that time period, some Pope decided he was gonna be a saint in 450 something A.D.

I’ve NEVER celebrated Valentine’s day, I don’t think there should be a “special” day for “love.”
Below is excerpts from something I wrote in 2007

The "L" word…and I’m not talking about that drama series on cable that portrays the lives, loves and learnings of a group of lesbians and bisexuals and their friends, family and lovers in Los Angeles.
I’m talking about l-o-v-e. What is it? How is it shown? Is it necessary? Is it real and do we need it? Is it overrated? You decide!!!
There’s a novel written in 1952 by Han Suyin which was made into a movie in 1955 called Love is a Many Splendored Thing starring William Holden (Stalag 17, Sunset Boulevard & Bridge over the River Kwai) and Jennifer Jones, about cross cultured relationship that was opposed by friends and family. The theme song of that movie recorded by The Four Aces goes a little something like this…

Love is nature’s way of giving
A reason to be living,
The golden crown that makes a man a king.

So what is it and why does it make people do outrageous things? My brother moved down to Davao to try to "make it work" with his girlfriend who has 4 kids from a previous marriage, my brother having one kid from a previous relationship that got all fucked up. He’s getting and instant family!!!
I have another friend who put up with her ex-husbands philandering ways because of a vow she made one time. She said she loved him and he "has a good heart", but she caught him with his girlfriend one time when she went up to Baguio and he acted like it was alright or it was his right! And it wasn’t the first time. Did she really love him or was she just keeping the vows she made because that’s the "right" thing to do?
I have some good friends who are in long term relationships or are even married who "get some on the side"!
So what is real love? I know of one example for sure, Jesus giving his life for mankind even if he had the choice to not do it.
In the 1859 historical novel, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, Sidney Carton is a cynical English barrister gives his life in the place of his friend who looks a like to preserve the love that his friend has for a woman that he loves himself. Stating as he is at the guillotine that, "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known."
Is the greatest show of love to give your life for someone else? Jesus said in John 15:13..Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends…then he admonishes us right after this verse to love one another like he loved us and he gave his life for us.
So is everything else in between bullshit or fake, or is it really lust masquerading as love???
In 1998 the group Rappers against Racism or R.A.R. bannered by German chart rapper Down Low, LaMazz and Scream Factory covered Foreigner’s "I Want to Know What Love Is"

Yeah, to all you people out there
I wanna know one thing
What’s love?
Who are we?
Are we all brothers and sisters?
Our blood is the same color
So we should get our all get down
Check it out
Could it be that I stand alone on my own
Having nothing to fear far away from home
Now my time is short, let me exercise your mind
Fly with me to the sky with ***
I hear a quiet past generation, I travel different nations
Come closer to the man that you’re facin
This is my plea, my sayin, my words,
Vanish racism and thoughts of your nerve
Display the *** and stand up for what you believe
We shall all overcome and achieve
Think about the brothers and sisters who died & remember
Know what love is, and make a difference

Love is too many things to try to describe it one word or one sentence for that matter, so I’m not even going to try anymore ;)

Love ain’t trying to be
Something you’re not my friend
Love ain’t trying to be someone
You think you gotta pretend