How to do Valentine's Day Jesus-style (Friday Soulfest)

Since today is Valentine’s Day, today’s Friday Soufest (about Friday Soulfest, see note below) will have a relational bent to it. In Luminous, I talk a lot about being present with God and one another. Being present is a deeply spiritual theme, but it is also a focus that is ideal for Valentine’s Day.

Here’s an excerpt from the Introduction to Luminous where I describe how important being present is to the Christian life:

Living with Jesus is an intensely personal encounter with God, whomever is in front of me, and whatever is happening. It is open-hearted and multi-sensory. It is being right here, in this moment. It is a radical alternative to our growing social norm of being so saturated in multitasking that we can only pay “continuous partial attention” to God or people.

We are returning to the thoroughly relational heart of the Christian faith. We are pulling Jesus’ Great Commandments to love God and people off the shelf of memorable teachings and implementing them as a moment-to-moment way of life. There is nothing richer. When we live with Jesus, we find his words to be true: “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). (Luminous, 14)

So what do you say? How about we do Valentine’s Day Jesus-style by looking people in the eye, listening with full attention, taking time with them, serving them gladly, and doing all this with extra prayer?

If you don’t have a “special someone” today, you can celebrate the holiday by being present to God and the people around you. If you do have a “special someone,” there is nothing more romantic than simply paying full attention to him or her and the God who created that masterpiece of manhood or womanhood.

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About Friday Soulfest… How better to head into a weekend than a soulfest? That’s a festival for your soul, and it means connecting with God in deeply happy-making ways. Throughout 2014, I will be posting excerpts and prayer exercises from my book Luminous: Living the Presence and Power of Jesus. With these posts, I hope to give you springboards for communing with Jesus. He’s the one who puts the fest in our souls!

Footnote: “Continuous partial attention” was a term coined by author Linda Stone in 1998.

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