Speakeasy: Cupid's got a chokehold on society

[This is what I blogged for Speakeasy this week. I'm vain and had to post it here, too. I wish I could say whatever I wanted in Speakeasy blogs, but I can't, so this kind of stuff is what we end up with.]

There are millions of opinions about Valentine’s Day, but generally two sides. There are those who say it’s a shameless scam spurred by sadistic establishments that purposely points out the lonely people of society, and those who (**liiKe, OMG**) love it.

Of course, those were both blatantly and hugely exaggerated, but pretty much people fall into one category or the other. My reputation says I fall into the first category of envious haters. Any secret admirers I may have had in the past were not very bold. But I really enjoyed last years’ Valentine’s Day. My high school journalism class had a card exchange in honor of the event. It was like what most people did from Kindergarten till the end of elementary school, but I was homeschooled during those years. I found my first time getting Star Wars, Spider-man, Winnie-the-Pooh, and Dora the Explorer cards from everyone in my class delightful.

In my opinion, Valentine’s Day would be a whole lot cuter if it was much more toned down. These days it’s been turned into a whole season – one of turmoil for singles who wish they weren’t, and one that can even lead to too-high expectations for couples. But how did all this hype result? Was it because of all the companies who realized they could make a huge profit of it, or because of the couples who liked the excuse to congratulate themselves?

In truth, this question cannot be fully answered. In fact, the whole Valentine’s Day holiday is shrouded in mystery. No one really knows which saint the day is in honor of, since there were at least three martyred Catholic saints whose names closely resemble Valentine. But sometime between their deaths and now, someone decided that the day was going to be about mushy cards, hearts, and the colors pink and red. A week after Christmas, I made a run to Target, and the entire place was dripping in heartsy-fartsy décor. There was not one thing in the Dollar Spot that wasn’t Valentine-related. So you could say that the evolution of Valentine’s Day was as fast and drastic as the evolution of the iPod, or Miley Cyrus’s career.

Another aspect of Valentine’s Day is how totally geared toward women it is. Most people I’ve talked to don’t seem to mind at all, and neither do I, but I’d just like to point it out. The tradition in a dating relationship is that the guy asks the girl out, is usually supposed to pay for dates, and even plans them most of the time. And while I like the gestures that show that they’re being attentive and thoughtful, I wonder if part of the real satisfaction we girls get is watching them sweat as they struggle to make everything perfect. We know it’s hard for them to even remember days like Valentine’s Day sometimes, even when everything from decorations to embarrassing themes for Sibs Weekend are oriented around them.

I wonder if singles and couples could unite to petition Hallmark and company to chill out when it come to this holiday. I think that would make everyone happy. Single people could appreciate their singleness without annoyance; secret admirers could be sweetly discrete and work up courage without pressure while the secretly admired don’t secretly get their hopes up; boyfriends could stop being so worked up that they make fools of themselves; girlfriends could feel special without making a scene; Necco could permanently discontinue Sweethearts; and everyone could exchange their favorite cartoon Valentines.

Ranting and Raving.

I was reading 1 Corinthians the other day, and when I came across verse 13, I heard myself thinking, "Thank you, Paul!"

"Is Christ divided?"

Paul had a gift for spiritually smacking people upside the head. What was happening in the church he was writing to was a bunch of bickering in the congregation. One man would say, "I follow the teachings of Paul," and the dude in the next pew would say, "Well I follow the teachings of Name-Your-Apostle." They would argue about who was better; then both of them read this letter from Paul, and the light bulb finally went on in their heads. 

I wish I could just have a rant with Paul about why in the world people still don't get this. "Is Christ divided?" is a rhetorical question. Paul isn't asking them something, he's making a point. The Corinthian congregation was more caught up in the teachings of different teachers, apostles, and philosophers that they were about to miss the whole, simplistic message that God was trying to give them.

I hate when denominations quarrel. Fights between Protestants and Catholics have been going on for centuries, and have cause unfathomable amounts of trouble and spurred, sparked, and ignited unholy hatred among people who claim to follow the same God. Even the denominations that get along are still divided in essence. All this does is set up Christians, whose original definition was nothing but followers of Jesus, to be stereotyped. Imagine what it looks like to the rest of the world when people who are called to love and claim to be part of the same kingdom of heaven can't get over nit-picky details and focus on Christ?

1 Corinthians 1:17

"For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel - not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of it's power."

Anything we humans add to what Jesus said about himself lessens the power and purity of the message, for "the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength" (v. 25). We know nothing! I'm reading The Barbarian Way, by Erwin McManus (I'm sure I'll write about that later), and he would say that when we inject our own social norms into the word of God the result is civilized Christians. Even I consistently try to put God into terms that I can understand, to make him more normal, I guess. But it doesn't work that way because we aren't allowed to take any of the credit for what He's done. 

"Let him who boasts boast in the Lord!"

P.S. Check out this nutty bunch who are the prime example of when thinking too much of yourself, and not enough about God, gets out of hand. They're pretty infuriating. 

The First

I started a blog. Blame my dissatisfaction with trying to come up with stuff for the school publication but only ending up with my own rambling thoughts.

First I'm going to explain that the word "rag," among other things, is synonymous with "journal." Hence the title.

Basically, I've realized that there's a lot I want to say about a lot of things. I'm at school to be a journalist, and the first step to that is seeing if people will actually listen to what you have to say. 

The next step is finding time to write it all down, maybe? This is a short and barely above pointless first post, but I'm guessing some more lengthy ones will follow. But for now I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes. It's from a kid's chapter book called Dunk.

"I searched for words to explain my feelings and wondered whether anyone could give a good answer to that question... What makes a kid sit in his room every day practicing guitar chords or painting pictures for hours at a time? What makes a guy spend years chiseling away at a block of marble? Maybe it was just some feeling that said, "Do this."