When I was a kid in elementary school, I remember looking forward to Valentine’s Day each year. The class party for Valentine’s Day was always fun and candy-filled. My favorite part, though, was building a decorated Valentine’s mailbox. Pink, red and white construction paper, pipe cleaners, stickers and sometimes even tissue paper were my tools of the trade. Each year the Valentine mailbox would sit on the corner of my desk and at delivery time would be filled with those fun little cards and conversation hearts. Oh how I always wished to find a card from that special someone! As an adult I miss those Valentine mailboxes and the surprises (and sometimes heartbreak) they held. But I do have a wonderful love note from the ultimate Valentine and I don’t have to wait until February 14^th to read it. The book of the Bible is filled with love notes from God. The whole thing is a love story, really. God lovingly created the universe and his first human beings disappointed him right away by breaking his one rule. Instead of destroying them on the spot he came up with another way, a Plan B of sorts. He spent hundreds of years putting his plan in motion and 2,010 years ago sent his only son, Jesus the Christ, as a way out of the mess we humans had made for ourselves. The Bible is filled with stories, poems and songs about God’s love for us, but the ultimate act of love happened about two thousand years ago when Christ gave his life for mankind. It was God’s way of saying “Be mine, Valentine” to each one of us. Have you accepted your Valentine?

Paul McCartney and his post-Beatles band Wings were onto something with their tune “Silly Love Songs”. The lyrics have some truth to them: “You’d think that people would have had enough of silly love songs. ... Some people wanna fill the world with silly love songs.  And what's wrong with that?” Think about all the love songs out there. “I Wanna Know What Love Is” is a good request and there are truthful sentiments in the songs “All You Need is Love”, “Love Me Tender”, and “Love Is a Many Splendored Thing”. But what is it we really learn from modern love songs? They train us to believe that love is just a feeling – a really strong and powerful feeling to be sure. Feelings are fickle, though, aren’t they? You fall in and out of the kind of love most songs describe. Songs also make love sound like something that generally always leads to heartbreak. Those of us who have suffered a bad break up know the painful truth in songs like “You’re a Hard Habit to Break” and “Love Hurts”. Real love is so much more than a catchy song lyric. Real love is a choice. We feel love toward others but we also choose to love them even in the moments when we don’t feel so loving. A son loves his mom even when he’s upset that she’s making him eat his broccoli. A sister loves her brother even when he plays a mean prank on her. A husband loves his wife even when she nags him once again about leaving his underwear on the floor. Love is a verb and sometimes requires diligence and practice. This week at Pathways, we are beginning the 40 Days of Love where we will challenge ourselves to love as Jesus did. He loved us to the point of giving his life on the cross for us -- love was a great deal more than a feeling that day. What is your favorite love song? Is it a silly love song like Paul McCartney’s? Or is it a song of worship for your Savior?

Catalyst. Change Agent. A substance that starts or speeds up a chemical reaction while undergoing no permanent change itself. The enzymes in saliva, for example, are catalysts in digestion. This is a term that comes from chemistry and describes a substance that helps facilitate change in other substances. The Church (meaning the whole of Christian religion) sometimes has a bad reputation for how it has interacted with or influenced the world around us. There are, unfortunately, many examples of how churches or individual members have facilitated negative feelings in others. However, that’s far from what is meant to be. Church began with those who sat under the teaching of Jesus Christ and then spread under the teaching of his closest associates or disciples after Jesus’ death and resurrection. At that time, the church was everything. People were giving all their money and possessions to the church so that it could be shared equally with others. Orphans and widows were cared for by the church. Hungry people were fed and clothed. The sick were shown compassion and healing. The hurting and lonely were given a place of refuge. No one went without what they needed. The Church was changing the world around them because the surrounding culture was greedy, selfish and without compassion. We need to get back to being the kind of Church that Jesus taught us to be. We need to change the world through our kindness, compassion, generosity, and love. It needs to be transformed into a place where others are treated with dignity and accepted for who they are. We as members of the Church need to be change agents in our community, facilitating positive life change in others around us as they see Jesus in our lives. It is important to note, though, that the church as a catalyst differs slightly from the chemical definition. I believe we are changed permanently when we interact with the world around us in ministry.

Are you a chocolate milk drinker? Maybe when you were a child? For those of who have chosen a relationship with Christ, chocolate milk is a great picture of the Holy Spirit’s working in our lives. As I grow in my knowledge of who God is and who I am meant to be, I am hopefully changing both inwardly and outwardly to behave more like Christ. The book of Galatians in the Bible, chapter 5, verses 22-23 tell us that the “fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” As I grow up in my maturity as a Christian, I should be shedding my old behaviors and these new fruits should be more and more obvious to everyone around me. Those of us who have a relationship with Christ have the Holy Spirit as a source of power to grow in these fruits. But, like a glass of white milk with chocolate syrup added to it, the milk doesn’t transform into chocolate milk until you stir it up. We stir up the Holy Spirit in our lives when we spend time learning from the Bible and as we spend time working on our relationship with God through prayer. I don’t know about you, but chocolate milk tastes a lot sweeter and is more satisfying than plain, white milk. Could I live my life without the milk stirred up? Sure. But it tastes a lot sweeter when I stir up the chocolate. The same is true with the Holy Spirit. My life is far more fruitful when the Holy Spirit is stirred up in my and is influencing all areas of who I am.