Valentines Day

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> Valentine's Day Math No. 1:> A child in a class of 20-plus will send valentines to classmates, theteacher, the teacher's aide, and possibly to the school principal and adminstaff. There is a well-intentioned rule that all children must send themeither to everyone in the class or to none, and just about everyone doestake part. So you're talking at least 25 valentines (oh, now I see the pointof private schoolsmall class size). In an elementary school of 400, thismeans in the region of 10,000 valentines are exchanged. That's in oneschool. There are 64,000 public elementary schools in the United States, andaverage enrollment is 478. So the final figure is mind-boggling: more than750 million valentines exchanged by pre-pubescent schoolchildren.>> Valentine's Day Math No. 2:> Money is not the biggest issue here. You can buy a box of valentines forunder $2; it is hard to spend more than $4 a box; and astoundingly they comein useful packs of 32 (rather than 20, which would mean buying two boxes).Some children make their own, with a small cost of materials. A $2 averageper child seems reasonable, allowing for those who add candy to the card,giving $800 for the 400-child school. Of course that is $60 millionnationwide: And we could all think of better things to do with the money.>>> I watched my son diligently address each of these cards to the others inhis class. He spent a lot of time on it and verysatisfied with his results.>> What did he get? A bag full of the same - Most written out by the otherchilds parent! Some others showed that the child had done it themselves,but most were completed by the parent... What are these children going toget out of this? A bag full of small candies. What are the children goingto remember of this by next week? The candy.>> What can be done? This day was not started for children to help cardcompanies make money. Here's the history....>>> Valentines Day was originally created as a substitute. In the fifthcentury A.D., the Catholic Church attempted to be rid of a common paganfertility rite that the Romans had been taking part in since the fourthcentury B.C. Every year the Romans celebrated a young mans rite of passageto the god Lupercus by holding a lottery in mid-February. The names ofwilling teenage girls were placed in a box and drawn at random by teenagemen. By this lottery a young man was assigned a young woman companion fortheir mutual pleasure (often sexual) for the duration of a year. After theyear was up another lottery was held. As Christianity spread and the leadersof the Church resolved to do away with this practice by picking a loverssaint to replace the god Lupercus. They picked Valentine, a bishop who hadbeen martyred in the third century A.D. for the cause of love.>> In 270 A.D. Emperor Claudius had issued an edict forbidding marriagebecause he believed that married men made poor soldiers, not wanting toleave their families to go to battle. Valentine, bishop of Interamna,disagreed with the emperor and invited young lovers to come to him in secretto be married. When Claudius found that he was performing secret marriageceremonies, he was incensed. He had Valentine seized and brought before him.When Valentine refused to change his views and renounce Christianity, he wasput in prison to await execution. In February of 270, Valentine was clubbed,stoned, and then beheaded.>> Tradition tells us that while Valentine was in prison he corresponded withthose under his care by sending little letters and love notes to those inhis parish. It is also believed that while he was in prison the bishop fellin love with the blind daughter of the jailer, Asterius and that God enabledhim to miraculously restore her sight. Tradition tells us that his farewellmessage to her contained a closing that transcended time: From YourValentine.>> In A.D. 496, Pope Gelasius outlawed the Lupercian festival, but cleverlyretained the lottery, because he was aware of the Romans love for games ofchance. But now instead of names of women in the box, there were placednames of saints. Men and women both picked slips of paper and for theupcoming year they were expected to imitate the life of the saint whose namethey had drawn. And St. Valentine was advanced as the overseer of the wholething. It took some time for this new tradition to take hold, buteventually, more and more Romans relinquished the Lupercian festival andreplaced it with St. Valentines Day.>> Traditionally, mainly due to the Lupercian lottery, mid-February was aRoman time to meet and court prospective mates. While the Lupercian lotterywas replaced, most Roman young men were not totally satisfied with thelottery of saints names and the new lottery did not last long. Instead theyoung men instituted a custom of offering women they admired and wished tocourt handwritten greetings of affection on February 14. The cards becameknown as Valentines Day Cards.>>> And now you know. Probably more that you thought you were going to learnat the start of this letter.>> So go out and put your name in the Lottery. Show some affection and tryand find your Valentine: That one person who can miraculously restore to youFaith of the Heart, and Love.>> Happy St. Valentines Day