Spokane congregations see Valentine’s Day as time for universal love
News Story by Caleb McGever | FāVS News
Spokane religious leaders say Valentine’s Day, with its focus on romantic love, takes a back seat to broader expressions of compassion and community in their faith traditions.
“We struggle with this because Valentine’s Day is just laden with all these expectations,” says the Rev. Daniel White, pastor of Whitworth Community Presbyterian Church, who hasn’t held an official Valentine’s Day event in his 11 years leading the congregation.
White said these expectations often elevate married couples with children in the American church, overlooking the value of single people. Yet the Christian tradition still has space for romantic love, particularly in biblical texts like Song of Songs.
“It’s a story of what happens when two people love each other and freely give themselves one to another, as the Bible teaches from Genesis on, this sense of freedom, togetherness,” he said.
Valentine’s Day and deeper reflection
Stephanie Gronholz, religious education specialist for the Unitarian Universalist Church of Spokane, approaches Valentine’s Day as a chance for deeper reflection.
“I love any opportunity to take a holiday kind of at face value and then deconstruct it a little bit and say, ‘Well, you know what’s the history of this? How do people around the world celebrate it?'” she said.
For Unitarian Universalists, love stems from the principle of inherent worth and dignity of all people.
“Giving people a lot of freedom to use reason and figure out their path in life, I think that’s what love is,” Gronholz said.
Their symbol of love, the flaming chalice, dates to World War II, when Unitarians placed candles in windows to mark safe havens for refugees.
“We light a chalice in our church every Sunday just to signify what our church stands for, that radical love and acceptance of people,” she said.
Nirvana Day falls on Feb. 14
At the Spokane Buddhist Temple, Minister’s Assistant Amanda Goodwin said Valentine’s Day holds no official place in Buddhist tradition. This year, however, it coincides with Nirvana Day, celebrating Buddha’s enlightenment.
“It would be a good way to celebrate romantic love on Nirvana Day, because that’s when the Buddha awakened to all these truths of being more happy and less suffering,” Goodwin said.
The temple plans to serve heart-shaped cookies, their shape mirroring the Bodhi leaf under which Buddha gained enlightenment.
Yet in Jodo Shinshu Buddhism, romantic love remains “kind of lower on the scale,” Goodwin said. “The goal in Buddhism is to love with equanimity. So, you’re trying to extend the same love that you would give to a romantic partner, that deep love and care and compassion, to every single sentient being.”
Love is key
Martha Gaesser, Spokane’s North Stake communication director of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sees love as “the whole key to this life.”
“Loving God, loving your neighbor, which means everybody. That can be your spouse, which is more of a romantic love, but also your fellow person, the person on the street, the person down the road,” she said. “We just meet each other where they are and just love and help.”
