Today is Wednesday, the 14th day of February, 2018. The day should have been like every other Wednesday save for the fact that the 14th of February every year is set aside all over the world as a day to commemorate the Life and times of Saint Valentine of Rome.
I will not like to bore You and make this post TLDR (lengthy) with the story of Saint Valentine but different accounts of mythology all point to one similar fact; Saint Valentine was a Martyr of Courtly Love. One version had it that Saint Valentine was conducting secret marriages at a time when Rome was at war and Young men were supposed to become Soldiers by default, hence he attracted the wrath of the Emperor. He was imprisoned, one thing led to another, he came in contact with the daughter of one Asterius who was supposed to be his Jailer. According to the myth, the day Saint Valentine was supposed to be beheaded, he wrote a letter to Asterius’ daughter and the letter ended with “from your Valentine”. That was the beginning of what we now have as Saint Valentine’s day.
Hope I didnt bore You? Not really right?
Fast forward to 2018 AD, the Saint has been long gone, but his “Manhood” lives forever.
Today, a lot of things (good, bad, ugly) go on all in the name of Valentine. From Folks adorning Red outfits like Masquerades, to Young girls getting deflowered for a bid as low as a Bouquet of Flowers and Boxes of Chocolate, well that is in the western world, in this part of the world, it could be a piece of Shawarma or Pizza with Cold Stone Ice-Cream to “wash it down”.
Somewhere in the world, a young girl who is still a virgin as at the time I am writing this will get deflowered before the day runs out, many young girls will be impregnated, before I begin to sound gender-biased, many young men will also contact STIs and STDs. All these because we are remembering a Saint. Committing Atrocities in the remembrance of a Saint? What an irony!!!
I do not fit into the typical definition of a Religious person, hence, I do not necessarily have the moral braggadocio to call anyone a Sinner as it were.
However, in the immortal words of the late Myles Munroe, “When the purpose of a thing is not know, colossal abuse is inevitable”. In the last few days, I have engaged a number of Valentine’s day practitioners probing to know what they understand about the under linings of the Red-clothed 14th day of February. 80% of my respondent knew nothing about the Saint himself. All they knew was it was a day to show Love and Romance and have fun and enjoy. #Datzall.
If You must do something bad, at least do it with a keen sense of purpose! If You must be a Sinner, be a Sinner for a reason. Not just hopping blindly on the bandwagon. You know what happens to new band-wagoners? You guessed right!.. They are usually the first to fall.
As it stands, there are 3 categories of people in the world for today; There are the Saints like Valentine, there are the Valentiners (I dont want to call them Sinners) and there are the rest of us who will run the day like every other Wednesday.
P.S. Everything I have shared is my opinion, they are neither right nor wrong, the difference comes from your own Point-of-view. If You think otherwise, take to your Blog, Medium or Facebook wall and share your views too.
Thank You.
I am Seun Ogunmola I help People and Organizations to leverage on Technology to achieve their goals Faster, Easier and Cheaper.
I also write on diverse subject areas including Finance, Business, Productivity and Governance.