“Love is not just for Valentine\u2019s Day but for every day” says\u00a0The Rt Rev Dr Nigel Peyton, Bishop of Brechin, in an article written for the Dundee Courier newspaper:<\/p>\n
“‘Be my Valentine'”<\/em>\u00a0say the scarlet red greeting cards. Maybe you might send or receive one this year?<\/p>\n “The origins of Valentine\u2019s Day are unclear. Some stories come from the days of the Roman Empire when Christians were persecuted. Valentine is typically portrayed as a Bishop, performing secret marriages for soldiers for whom wives were forbidden.<\/p>\n “These legends caught the imagination of subsequent generations from Chaucer and Shakespeare to modern mass produced greeting cards with their poetry, cupids and hearts, given with flowers and chocolates to loved ones. There is a certain old fashioned charm about all this.<\/p>\n “However showing affection and forging relationships has been transformed by the worldwide web and the internet. Communication is instant and intimate: emails and texting, Facebook and online dating are commonplace.<\/p>\n “But what are the boundaries and when are they crossed? We recall the stories of unwanted advances via Friends Re-united. Parents today understandably fret over teenage sexting and potential abusers gaining access to youngsters. Online conversations that take a sinister form are highlighted in a new campaign featuring a TV advertisement targeting child exploitation.<\/p>\n “Technology has forced us to recalibrate what we consider is decent, moral and legal. We find ourselves a million miles away from the loving sentiments of the average Valentine card.<\/p>\n “\u201cI want to know what love is\u201d sang the chart-topping band Foreigner. The wistful music and the lyrics strike a chord because they ask an age old question for people who crave secure and loving relationships.<\/p>\n “Love has many dimensions: everyday human empathy, friendship and affection, \u2018blood is thicker than water\u2019 family love and erotic and sexual love. There is a world of difference between \u2018the greater love that no man has than to lay down his life for another\u2019 and the explicit cinema screen love scene.<\/p>\n “When I conduct weddings a reading from St Paul is often chosen. He wrote that \u201clove is patient and kind, not envious and arrogant, love keeps no score of wrongs \u2026 love endures all things, love never ends\u201d. There is probably no Valentine card which quite captures that enduring quality. Love is not just for Valentine\u2019s Day but for every day.”<\/p>\n -ends-<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"“Love is not just for Valentine\u2019s Day but for every day” says\u00a0The Rt Rev Dr Nigel Peyton, Bishop of Brechin, in an article written for the Dundee Courier newspaper: “‘Be my Valentine’”\u00a0say the scarlet red greeting cards. Maybe you might send or receive one this year? “The origins of Valentine\u2019s Day are unclear. Some stories […]","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3654,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hillside.work\/sec\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hillside.work\/sec\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hillside.work\/sec\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hillside.work\/sec\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hillside.work\/sec\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70700"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hillside.work\/sec\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70700\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hillside.work\/sec\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hillside.work\/sec\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hillside.work\/sec\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hillside.work\/sec\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}