{"id":1245,"date":"2019-02-21T09:41:48","date_gmt":"2019-02-21T14:41:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redchairblogs.wpengine.com\/holymoly\/?p=1245"},"modified":"2019-02-21T09:41:48","modified_gmt":"2019-02-21T14:41:48","slug":"love-goes-beyond-february","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/2019\/02\/21\/love-goes-beyond-february\/","title":{"rendered":"Love Goes Beyond February"},"content":{"rendered":"

Valentine’s Day is that one day of the year when we are supposed to say I love you<\/em> to people who are important in our lives. I remember being in third grade and giving Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Valentine\u2019s cards to everyone in my class. One went to everyone, including the kids I was not close with. That was my teacher\u2019s rule. Everyone received a card or no cards would be distributed.<\/p>\n

My memory of those Teenage Mutant Ninja cards, and our nation\u2019s recent celebration of Valentine\u2019s Day, has caused me to reflect on taking care of everyone, making everyone feel loved. Why don\u2019t we make everyone, including those close to our hearts, feel loved and appreciated every day?<\/p>\n

My grandmother Zora often told people she loved them. She even said this phrase to the nurses or doctors who would take care of her. Sometimes strangers were completely shocked when, after only knowing her for a few minutes, she would tell them, \u201cI love you.\u201d I was always amazed to see how people reacted. The majority smiled, and many hugged her.<\/p>\n

Zora has been gone for a long time now, and as I age, I understand that she attempted to make everyone that she encountered feel valued. We never know what someone\u2019s life has been like before meeting them, what it could be like after meeting them. Showing compassion to other humans could change the course of their day, their week, their lives.<\/p>\n

I have studied many religions over the past thirteen years, and what I have found paramount to them all is the insistence on loving others. Loving can be as simple as showing appreciation through a card; it can be as complex as loving a family member through their struggles with addiction.<\/p>\n

I consider my work here at University of Lynchburg–teaching, directing the writing center, and leading spiritual discussions–my way of not only tending but also as inspiring goodness. I do not know the lives of all the people I meet every day, but I do know that I can treat them kindly, with the utmost respect and compassion. It is my hope that each smile I give encourages more kindness.<\/p>\n

Valentine\u2019s Day is gone. We\u2019ve probably eaten all the chocolate we were given (if we received any), and we\u2019ve probably thrown away our cards (don\u2019t forget to recycle!)\u00a0 Let us not, however, forget the sentiment of telling others that they are loved, that they are worthy, that we appreciate their existence. Let us stretch ourselves to also include those who may have caused us anger, strife, or frustration. If we show others love, hopefully they will be inspired to do the same. May we all know that we are loved and valued.<\/p>\n

Jer Bryant
\nAdvisor to SBNR and to Q&Spiritual<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Valentine’s Day is that one day of the year when we are supposed to say I love you to people who are important in our lives. I remember being in third grade and giving Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Valentine\u2019s cards …<\/p>\n

Love Goes Beyond February<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-jeremy"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1QIf6-k5","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1245"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1245\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}