Jan 23, 2020
By Katrina Goodrich
February 2020 is here and with it all the romantic airs of couples in love and the angst of people who aren’t. People tend to either love or loathe February 14—or they just choose to treat it as any other day. Any reaction you have to Valentine’s Day is fine—I’m not going to shame someone for finding joy in making sure at least one day of the year is extra special in the romance department. I’m also not going to be offended by the scoffer who dislikes the commercial feeling of the holiday and believes that concentrating on expressing love only on one day of the year rather than the whole year is dumb. Honestly, I tend to be relatively indifferent to the holiday—maybe that will change at some point—I don’t know. But there is a “holiday” that’s come out of the Valentine’s Day craze that I wholeheartedly support and am on board with: Galentine’s Day.
For those of you who are unaware of what Galentine’s Day is—it was a made-up holiday on a secular TV show called “Parks and Recreation.” The protagonist in the show introduced us to her holiday: February 13, Galentine’s Day, as a day for awesome women to celebrate their friendships. What was meant as a cute idea to showcase a character has taken off. Increasingly, people are bucking the commercialism and forced ideals of a holiday that matters most to those in a romantic relationship and alienates those who aren’t.
Just like Christmas and Easter, it can be difficult to see the real meaning of a holiday like Valentine’s Day. It’s easy to get caught up in the candy and hearts and miss the important ideal this particular holiday points us toward. Romance is part of it and if you want to celebrate that—no judgement. But a day celebrating love should point us toward ultimate love: the unconditional love of God for us.
Galentine’s Day took off because it helps fulfill the human desire for love and connection in a way that isn’t commercialized into meaninglessness. Strengthening connections through celebrating friendships is important. Taking time to remind the other people in your life of their worthiness to be loved as they are, that the person they are is valuable. Galentine’s is a great way to remind people that they matter and are loved.
Celebrating love should point us toward Christ because that is where love begins and flows from. Unsurprisingly, we make it about us. But Valentine’s Day really shouldn’t be about us because love doesn’t originate with us. It should be about more than just one or two people—leaving it at that cheapens what love truly is and misrepresents and cuts out the purpose of love. Including others, to underscore their importance and worth, it encourages and lifts up and gives meaning—embodying what love should be.
This February, instead of focusing on love that only reaches so far, consider how you can widen your scope. Plan a Galentine’s Day celebration with your friends, volunteer at a shelter, plan something that brings people closer together. So many people feel isolated and alone, alienated. Finding a way to fight that feeling, especially on a day that tends to highlight loneliness, and bring people into closer connection with each other and their Creator, gives a purpose to a holiday many have described as pointless. Feel free to celebrate your romantic relationship on Valentine’s Day but, in addition to celebrating romantic love, add to your celebration and find a way to extend the celebration of love to others as well.
