Valentine's Day (a short history)

A short article from the old "Harvest Times" newsletter I used to produce for home educators in the Bangor area. I debated adding more to it, it is quite short (there was limited spaced in HT), but I decided to leave it as it is, including the jokes at the end ~smile. I found the vintage Valentines on Pinterest.com. Aren't they great?

Valentine's Day, A Holiday of Love

by Penni Hill

Why do we celebrate Valentine's Day? Where did the customs we use today come from and when did they begin? There are several ideas of why we celebrate Valentine's Day the way we do.

Thousand's of years ago, February 15 was the day the Romans held a festival to honor one of their gods, Lupercus. It was a day of games, music and dancing. This was also the day the Roman’s had their “love raffle”. The names of young women were written on pieces of paper and put into a jar. The young men would draw out the name of their sweethearts for the coming year.

On February 14, 269 A.D. a Roman priest named Valentine was put to death for teaching about Christ.  In 496, Pope Gelasius named Valentine as a saint and made February 14 a special day to honor him.

Over the years we have combined many of the customs of these two holidays. Today, we consider Valentine’s Day as the holiday of love. We send beautiful cards of love, give chocolates and flowers, and have romantic evenings out. It is definitely a day for romance, but is romance love?

            1 John 4:7-10 gives us the definition of true love. "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son [to be] the propitiation for our sins."

This Valentine's Day, let’s remember the man for whom this holiday was named and why it was named for him. And on this day may God’s love through His Son Jesus Christ become real to you.

Valentine Activities (for children and families)

Make some Valentine cookies. Put them in a pretty box and take them to an elderly neighbor or someone you know who is sick. Be sure to include a Valentine with a verse from God’s Word on it.

Visit a nursing home and take along Valentine’s you have made for all the patients (call ahead for exact number). While there sing love songs such as “Love Lifted Me”, quote scripture or put on a skit that tells what love really is.

 

 

Study about the human heart. Draw a picture of what a real heart looks like and learn how it works. Learn how to take your pulse rate.

Do a study on chocolate. When was it first made? What exactly is it made of? What place in the world makes the most of it? Where do most of the cocoa plants grow that we get our cocoa from here in the USA?

 

Be sure to send your loved ones a valentine this February 14. Why not take this chance to let them know how much they really mean to you!

Valentine Jokes 

from the book "Valentine Fun" by Judith Stamper

1. How do vampires fall in love?

2. Which month has twenty-seven days?

3. What flower is used most on Valentine’s Day?

(Answers at the bottom of page)

 

Knock, knock.

Who’s there?

Olive.

Olive who?

Olive you.

Answers to jokes

1. It's love at first Bite

2. All of them

3. Tulip

Happy Valentine's Day!

A Red Flag for the Homeschool Community

After reading about the latest controversy in the homeschool community, (see below for more information),  I dared to enter the fray (as one friend put it in a phone call- she was glad I had shared some information and my point of view in an email to an homeschool email list.) However, I found myself quickly becoming impassioned about the topic. So much so, I made a comment on my post on Facebook that implied (or seemed to on my reread through an hour later) that many people were not able to understand Susan Wise Bauer's book The Well Trained Mind. I did not intend to insult anyone's intelligence, rather, the point I was trying to make was that in places in her lengthy volume she got a bit wordy, (deep, intense, etc.) so much so, that she may have muddied the waters a bit about key issues if one isn't familiar with certain topics about worldviews (i.e. a humanistic worldview vs. a strictly Biblical worldview.) I suspect that she did not do this intentionally, but rather it is just her style.

As I read and conversed with others about the topic, I found myself once again caught up in the old zeal I had years ago. What to me is a real danger in the homeschool community and one in which I noticed years ago, ... many homeschool moms instead of researching out a curriculum for themselves will buy a curriculum or follow a method because a friend is doing it or because a reputable company is selling the book and or curriculum.  I know that homeschool Moms are very busy people. I was one for 16 years. I know time is limited and I do realize we can and do learn a lot from others. And of course, it is wise to seek counsel in making decisions, so I understand the trusting of others in the choices we make.. but if we seek advice from others, we need to be sure they are doing their research and that they have the same worldview we do, if we do not intend to or have the time to search out the matter for ourselves. 

My intent is not to criticize anyone, but rather send up a warning flag. 

Here is the issue.... if a writer or a publisher does not believe the WHOLE Bible to be true and literal, their philosophy will subtly (or not so subtly) be throughout their entire book or work. We may think that if they speak of our world beginning with evolution or old earth creationism, we can just skip over that section of the book and continue on teaching it to our children. The problem is.... that principle or train of thought will be throughout the entire book,

      -in whom they decide to write of as historical figures, 

      -which events in history they choose to highlight,

      -and ...here is the vital point...in how they portray  
             each person and event.

Parents, we must be wise in choosing which books we will use in the training up of our children. 

~~~~~

The controversy:

Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis was cancelled as a speaker at at least 2 homeschool conventions because he spoke out against the gross errors in thought in the following curriculum.

 

Telling God's Story Presents the Bible as a "Book of Myths" and More
Curriculum: Telling God's Story, A Parents' Guide to Teaching the Bible - for use with Telling God's Story series: Year One
Author: Peter Enns
Published by: Olive Branch Books, imprint of Peace Hill Press (Susan Wise Bauer)

Please read the well written and well researched review by Heather Idoni at the following link.

http://www.familyclassroom.net/Articles20111/20110328.html 

 

The Beliefs of our Founding Fathers

 In our Sunday School this week, our pastor briefly mentioned our founding fathers and the fact that many people believe them to have been Christians (born- again) and they were not. It got me thinking that many people may not realize exactly what a number of our Founding Fathers were and what they believed. Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and possibly several others, were, in fact, deists.

From the American Heritage Dictionary, deism is "the belief, based solely on reason, in a God who created the universe and then abandoned it, assuming no control over life, exerting no influence on natural phenomena, and giving no supernatural revelation."

I have heard it said that if these men were not Christians, at least they were "really close" to being Christians, believing much of the what we believe and believing much of the Bible. This could certainly be argued -- they believed in the morals of the Bible, how we should behave and treat others, but without Christ it is an empty morality and how long will it last? We need only look at Ben Franklin's personal life as he grew older for an example. I believe that there can be as much danger in being really close to the truth (and finding security there) as being far, far away... in both cases you are just as lost. Think with me of a person wanting to go to a play in a large auditorium. They pull into the parking lot, park their car, walk over to the side of the building and stand there. They watch everyone else go into the building but they are still outside- got a great view of the parking lot and the outside of the building but are they experiencing what is going on INSIDE the auditorium? No. They are SO close but it does them no good.

There is, however, no proof that our first president was a deist. Neither is there any proof that he was a Christian.  It is said George Washington never mentioned Christ in any of his correspondence. I have read some of his writings and hadn't realize this. I will have to read them over again, but briefly reading over his Thanksgiving Proclamation this morning, I notice that he does indeed mention God but not Christ. 

We should indeed remember the men who began our country with great respect and teach our children of them. But if we want direction for this life, we need not turn to a history book or biography. Instead we must turn to God's Word and study it. If we want an example of how we should live our lives, we should not look to lives of these men, instead we must turn to Christ...

The Horror of Holocaust

~I believe in the sun, even when it is not shining. I believe in love, even when I do not feel it. I believe in God, even when He is silent.~

I just came across this quote today.  Members of the US unit of the 45th Infantry Division found it carved into a wall at the end of WWII. There is some discrepancy as to whether it was found on the wall of a basement where a Jewish family was hiding out during the Holocaust or whether it was on the wall of a concentration camp. Either way, the point is the same. -- They trusted God. Period.

I have a great fascination with the period of time between 1930 and 1945, especially dealing with the Holocaust. I just can't understand how something so incredibly horrible could happen and good people just stood by (literally) and let it happen.  Although we would like to think that all Germans during this horrific time were people who were evil to the very core of their beings, the fact is many of them were just average people.- Many of them were "good" people. How could such people hate, mistreat, and kill (even if not doing it themselves, they allowed others to do so) innocent people by the thousands. Astounding.

People like Corrie Ten Boom inspire me. Through the strength she had in Christ, she was able to love the guards who mistreated her (and essentially killed her sister) in Ravensbruck Concentration Camp located near Berlin, Germany. She was actually able to love them - not just be submissive to them. She was able to forgive them as she had been forgiven. Again, astounding. 

You can read more about Corrie and her family at Corrie Ten Boom. To get the complete story of her trial and perseverance in Christ, I recommend her books The Hiding Place and A Tramp for the Lord. 

A few of my favorite movies on the subject of the Holocaust are:

"The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" (German with English subtitles)-This would be a good one for older children (age 10+?) to watch. A Jewish boy and a Nazi officer's son become friends. (Warning for those with children - it does end sadly and it may contain some nudity at the end - I can't remember. I suggest parents preview this first.)

"Jakob the Liar" (starring Robin Williams - probably the greatest role he ever played in a movie. imho)

"Schindler's List" -Not for young children. Based on the true story of how one man tries to save the lives of many Jews. Realistically portrays life during the holocaust.

"A Woman in Berlin" (German with English subtitles) - this has mature themes, it is the story of a German officer's wife and how she and others like her were treated by the Russian troops who came to liberate the Jews - an interesting movie that shows there was cruelty all around.

"The Pianist" starring Adrien Brody -Exceptionally well-done movie about how a Jewish pianist survived the Holocaust.

"The Island on Bird Street" - An 11 yr. old boy survives on his own in Nazi occupied Poland. Based on a true story.

(Note: I had intended this post to be very short. Just the quote at the top of the page. Can you tell this is a subject I am passionate about? ~smile)