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Image by Freepik. Valentine’s Day is a wonderful day to express love to those around us. But did you know that it started out as a pagan fertility festival? It took place each year on February 15. Then the Roman emperor Claudius II killed two Christian martyrs—each named Valentinus—on February 14 of different years in the third century. Later the pope honored those martyrs with a holy day, or holiday, called Saint Valentine’s Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine. Links to Romantic Love So how did such a holy day become linked to romantic love? According to Danielle Bernock of Christianity Today , in 1375 Geoffrey Chaucer wrote the poem “Parliament of Foules” (Parliament of Fowls), linking the beginning of birds’ mating season (mid-February) with courtly romantic traditions. Chaucer wrote, “For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne’s day / Whan every foul cometh ther to choose his mate.” In those early centuries, Valentine’s Day became a time to express ...

“I Have a Dream.” This powerful declaration by Martin Luther King Jr. more than 60 years ago continues to move, inspire, and motivate those who believe in and love equity in the world today. Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This is a solemn time to remember and renew his hope and our hope that this dream of equity can become reality for a better America for all people. Recognizing the Dream On August 28, 1963, King delivered his famous “I have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. He quoted the bold words of the Declaration of Independence and reminded listeners that some of those promises had yet to be fulfilled, especially to people of color. Still, he held tightly to the promise of those words: Even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evide...