As I’ve thought about it though, Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day do share some important qualities. They both involve loving activities focused on someone other than me. Ash Wednesday focuses on God, and Valentine’s Day on the beloved. Both involve intentional actions, whether ashes and prayer, or cards and candy. But probably most significant, humility is at the heart of both. Ash Wednesday and Lent underscore our human limitations in the presence of God. Valentine’s Day, for me anyway, is also a humbling experience. The more I experience the love of another human being, the more humbled I am to realize that someone would care enough, or even like me enough, much less love me enough to send a card, or give me a call, or do any number of those crazy things that I and others do on Valentine’s Day. And paradoxically the more I experience the reality of my own limitations, whether in faith or relationships, the more I cherish other people, other things in this world, and life itself, and the more aware I become of the awesome grace and mercy of the one we call God.

The truth is that I am not self sufficient, and both Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day underscore that fact. Both of these days involve unusual rituals that invite us to reach beyond ourselves in ways that we don’t usually do. And whether I experience the ashes on Ash Wednesday or send flowers on Valentine’s Day, I always feel a little more alive afterwards. I may be a little odd, but different as they are, I like both the symbols and the rituals of both days.

This year, as you read this, Ash Wednesday will have occurred yesterday. Oops. But today is Valentine’s Day. So it’s still not too late to do something nice for someone you love. And even though Ash Wednesday is over, Lent does continue for 40 days. And come to think about it what better form of intentional spiritual discipline than to make a conscientious intentional effort to reach out to those you love and care about, and tell them that you care, or better yet show them. If you and I did that regularly, even for a few days, much less 40, there’s no telling what would happen. I don’t know about you, but I am going to get started today.

– Dent Davis, Pastor Tryon Presbyterian Church