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2012 The Valentine Affirmation I. Who was St. Valentine? Historical references of St. Valentine a priest living in Rome during the rein of Claudius II are almost non existent. The name Valentine references fourteen saints who were martyred in ancient Rome. The priest whose feast is celebrated on February 14th was buried at the Via Flaminia north of Rome on February 14th. It is unclear whether the feast celebrates one saint or more saints of the same name. St. Valentine was arrested for marrying Christian couples and otherwise aiding Christians under persecution which was considered a crime. Claudius grew fond of the prisoner until Valentine attempted to convert the emperor to Christianity whereupon he was sentenced to death. He was beaten with clubs and stoned but when that didn’t kill him he was beheaded outside the Flaminian Gate. [1] |
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III St. Valentine’s Day Dinner Party Many years later my wife and I decided to host a St. Valentine’s Day dinner for friends from the neighborhood, church and our separate recovery groups. The year was 2005. Tammy the artist sewed red felt Valentine’s holders which we hung on the wall to replicate the handiwork of my memories from second grade. As our guests arrived we provided them each with a box of valentines and asked that they write one for every other guest in attendance. Valentines were strewn about the immaculately set tables with people running between rooms to grab a pen, pencil and load up on more Valentines. We also asked each guest to pose for photographs with our giant Mouse, attired in a Red and Black Tuxedo, Piñata we had purchased one Saturday on our way to Clark County Family Services class on the East Side of town as we were most interested in applying for licensure as foster parents and then adoption. After another great evening of fine dining open sharing, chocolate cake, heart candy, dipped cherries and other delicacies we bade each guest farewell with a long stem red rose, a box of chocolates and their giant valentine pulled off the wall and brimming with many envelope sealed baby valentines. My thought to share that single precious moment of awakening with others was granted that evening. |
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IV St. Valentine’s Evening II Practice makes Perfect In the fall of 2007 we moved to a larger home on the outskirts of Las Vegas to the far Northwest suburbs past goat farms and where people on Sunday mornings rode horses on the road separating our backyard from the desert. The new floor plan allowed us to now seat up to fifty people around one table, comprised of several sections, from the dining room to the entry foyer. In January of 2009 we informed our friends that we were leaving Las Vegas. On Valentine’s Day of 2009 we hosted our last party. After dinner the skillets and sauce pans were washed, the dishwasher loaded, the dial twisted and the gurgling wash cycle activated, the counters cleaned and the lights dimmed. New candles were lit and placed on each sectional of the almost thirty foot table. Freshly brewed coffee or refills of Coca Cola, Ice tea or Perrier were offered to all. We reclined at table and selected one of our friends to initiate the affirmation process of commenting on the life of every other guest; even it they had only met them this very night they were to offer a positive observation of the other person. As the first utterance of the first syllable was vocalized the room fell still. Each and every person yearned for spoken truth in a world of definite maybes through the person of an ex Catholic Nun and wife of a former Brother of the church; transplants they were to the Valley of the Sun from Boston, Massachusetts. Nancy McMahon was no ordinary woman. She and her husband Jim McMahon lived life with a bravado of anticipation for the next moment to seize and share with each other and the world that they through their own work as foster parents for some thirty plus years assisted in helping children grow into responsible adults a humble appreciative few returning to their home decades later to thank them for their steerage, discipline and love of those previously rejected or abandoned by their own blood line to become part of something larger as children of an Omnipotent God his handiwork bearing fruit, compassion and love through the tireless commitment of this married couple. After Nancy completed her remarks of each and every guest Jim her husband seated next to her commenced his affirmations. I leaned forward in my chair to reach for my coffee and to view the faces of each and every guest. I watched as tears welled up in eyes and then trickled down blushing cheeks. I looked to the far end of the table to catch a glance of Tammy who upon eye contact instinctively reached for several compact boxes of tissues and placed them intermittingly around the table. The sharing continued uninterrupted until the last person spoke of the last guest at two thirty in the morning. Barely a person left prior to the final blessing. We hosted hundreds of events for the seasons including Independence Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years but Valentine’s Day of 2009 was very special for the bonding that was purified that evening. Some of our guests had not previously received such a large dose of positive feedback in one day their entire lives. |
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V The Call and the Kitten A few months later we completed breaking down and packing the house transferring much of our libraries, wardrobes and kitchenware into small heavy book boxes, general packing and large wardrobe boxes with the metal posts. We drove out the first fully loaded truck on Easter Sunday in 2009 across state lines to St. George, Utah and eventually through Pueblo to New Mexico. We packed three more twenty four foot trucks all with hydraulic lifts that were reserved for local rentals although the rental agency complied with our request to cross state lines. Thank God! Due to lack of space we left behind our gorgeous elephant plant the size of a small room and some file cabinets in Tammy’s former office. Not one more item would fit in any nook or cranny in any of three vehicles; The Explorer loaded on a carrier towed by the lead truck or the Expedition driven by Tammy. All pets were present and accounted for that late Saturday afternoon in June 4th, 2009. Our destination was Southern New Mexico. We arrived eighteen travel hours later and restarted from scratch a network of new friends, recovery groups, and lifestyle. Then one day Tammy returned a phone call from Jim McMahon who informed her that Nancy had died. Tears streamed down her face as she cried quietly into the phone. Jim McMahon had completed his vow of marriage the fullness of love and all the rest of it and now his beautiful bride of many decades was gone joining the dearly departed in heaven and promise of eternal life. A few days later Tammy opened the door to walk one our Chow Chow’s and to her surprise a baby kitten reared up on its hind legs ready to challenge the dog to gain entrance into our home. She called for me and I put both pups in their respective rooms. Tammy reached down and picked up the kitten. We brought her inside and after watching her for a few days named her Jaguar after the great spirit cats but we could have named her Nancy as we both believe that Nancy left the kitten at our front door to remind us that we must always seek to protect and affirm those more vulnerable than we. Today Jaguar is the lioness of the lair frequently climbing up the side of the closet to swing from my collection of silk ties. Thanks Nancy! We would be remiss if we didn’t posthumously award to Nancy McMahon the Conversation trophy for her telling of when the “Pope came to Los Angeles” as the longest narrative ever told that was verified as a single story. |
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VI The Sermon In the Book Living Free in Christ, Neil Anderson states: “Our need for acceptance and belonging are legitimate needs; they are God-given. But if we attempt to meet them independently of God we are doomed to reap dissatisfaction the self-life brings. Peter admonishes us to lay aside the relentless pursuit of the approval of man. ‘Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander of every kind. Like new born babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him the living Stone-rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him-you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood.” [1Peter 2:15] Malice is wicked behavior that is often born out of our own sense of inadequacy when we look to others who have something we desperately need in order to be fulfilled. Peer pressure is so powerful and the pursuit of man’s approval so prevalent that people will compromise even their most basic moral principles to gain the acceptance of others. Lacking this, they begin to scheme and manipulate people or present a false image to gain approval. When this fails, they envy those who seem to have what they don’t have, and then the natural consequence is to slander them to bring them down to their own level. So strong and devious is man’s inner craving for significance apart from Christ!” [2] 2012 Valentine Affirmations Page Two |
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Governor Bent |
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Happy Valentines Day! God Bless you Nancy We miss you! Happy Valentines Day! Love in your heart wasn’t put there to stay love isn’t love till you give it away! Thank you lord ! Father pelase forgive them they know not what they do. Love and pray for you! We miss you! Love happy Valentines day! |
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2012 Valentine Affirmations Page Two |
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2012 Valentine Affirmations Page Two |
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2012 Valentine Affirmations Page Two |
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Love in your heart wasn’t put there to stay love isn’t love till you give it away! Happy Valentine “God loves you and so do we!” |