Do you know about Valentine, whom this day was once supposed to honor? His most widely accepted story goes like this:

Third century Christian martyr, he got in trouble for evangelizing and for (as a priest) performing Christian marriages. Final “mistake” was trying to evangelize Claudius II himself. Jailed, Valentine shared the gospel with the jailer and his household (like Paul), and prayed for the jailer’s blind daughter, whose blindness was cured. Just before his execution, he wrote her a note, signed “your Valentine”–thus the evident connection to sending “valentines.”

We’ve strayed pretty far from that road, haven’t we? Anyhow… Happy “Valentine’s Day” to each person reading this post. May we live this day in the spirit of Valentine’s sacrificial love, and faithfulness to Christ.