“I’m already sick of love,
My very gentle Valentine.”
Charles, Duke of Orleans
1425
(The oldest recorded Valentine message)
Charles, Duke of Orleans, wrote these lines for his sweet wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London in the early 1400’s. Now maybe it doesn’t sound so sweet to be “sick of love,” but I’m guessing he was brokenhearted because he missed her. Bonne of Armagnac was his second wife (his first wife had died during childbirth), poor Bonne died before Charles received his freedom.
With all the Valentines and romantic comedies out there, folks might get the impression that love is all hearts and happy endings, but the reality is LOVE HURTS. It takes you places you sometimes seriously do not want to go, and I’m not just talking about a stadium full of thousands of screaming maniacs or tea time at the Pavilion.
Love takes you to honesty. It takes you to a place where you allow someone else into your protected little world and let them see you. It drags you into disappointment. It pushes you toward forgiveness. And perhaps worst of all, it casts you into deep despair.
I tell you these things, not because I don’t like love. I tell you so you can know what you’re getting into. And please don’t get the wrong idea. I’m completely PRO love.
There’s nothing else like it.
But real love isn’t for sissies.
It’s not for the faint of heart. It’s not for the ones who get mad when they don’t get their way. It’s not for the ones who only want the good times and run away when it’s bad.
“I’m already sick of love”
Sick because it overwhelms me with great joy when we’re together, and nearly breaks me in two with great sorrow when we’re apart.
If you really want to understand love, I suppose you must look at the Bible. It’s a love story filled with wonder and tragedy and hope. God knows what it means to love someone who’s hard to love. He knows about openness and the heart. He understands disappointment and forgiveness. And he knows all about separation and finding a way to fix it.
Whether you believe in God or not, he loves you.
Love may hurt. It may make us cry, but it is also rich with mystery and wonder and the very best things of life.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
