Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, and what a different kind of day it will be for so many couples during this period of the coronavirus pandemic! At Blenheim Lodge, we would normally be busy welcoming Valentine couples instead of closing our doors. There is no harm, however, in planning for a later celebration of this special love during which we remember and show how much we appreciate our significant others. To this end, and if you’ve still not decided on that special gift to your special someone, do please contact us at Blenheim Lodge. You can BOOK AHEAD for a Valentine’s Day getaway treat for later on in the year!
1 Corinthians 13 exhorts us to love, and proceeds to explain what love looks like. There are truths in these verses which I believe continue to exert their verity from more than 2000 years:
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails.
(1 Corinthians 13:4-8)
As Valentine’s Day approaches, many couples will be gearing up to celebrate their special romantic love for each other. I was reading through a few poems by famous writers recently, and thought I would share a few along the way. Here is one by William Shakespeare which, I feel, goes beyond mere physical attributes to the more important aspects of a deeply held love.
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
(Sonnet 116, William Shakespeare)
Shakespeare’s sonnet goes beyond transient infatuation that is easily extinguished by external circumstances. Rather, the love he speaks of withstands the trials of relational ups and downs as well as Time’s ravages. How wonderful is a love like this! To grow old together as the couple’s love for each other matures.
We like to offer romantic breaks at Blenheim Lodge, and many couples come here to enjoy a quiet interlude for two. Some of the couples who stay with us make some quality time together to celebrate long marriages of more than 50 years. Hubby and I always love it when guests come here to celebrate their honeymoons or wedding anniversaries. For couples who have been together for a long time, it is a joy for us to witness their commitment to each other.
For those of us who have Valentines, let us remember to show our appreciation for them this Valentine’s Day. I am not generally a soppy person although I can get sentimental. However, I think that showing the one you love that you care does not necessarily mean splurging out on grand gestures. When all is said and done, it is the essential things that count: thoughtfulness, kindness, faithfulness, open-heartedness, a sense of humur, and empathy. (I am sure you can add many more positive attributes.)
Like any romantic soul, I hope that those of us who do not wish to walk this earth alone will find our lifelong mates ‘to love and to hold until death do us part’. As Shakespeare says in Sonnet 116, lines 9-12,
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
Blenheim Lodge . . . panoramic Lake views, peace and tranquillity, nestled against acres of beautiful fields and woodlands, in the heart of the English Lake District National Park.’
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