Ash Valentine

Happy Valentine’s Day! I can hardly believe we’re already in mid-February – wasn’t Christmas just yesterday?

Today is the day we celebrate the human experience of love and affection for one another. Receivers of love freely give back in a joyful exchange of hearts and flowers and chocolates. And cards offer words that some of us may not be able to conjure across our lips. All of these expressions offer symbolic gestures, a glossy veneer of the deeper emotion that might only be felt through a lingering embrace or a passionate kiss.

This year, for Christians, there is a weightiness to our sugar-...