Threefold Cord

M any people will remember a childhood poem for Valentines. The following is the original 1784 translation from French, but you might remember it a bit differently; [i] The rose is red, the violet’s blue The honey’s sweet, and so are you. Thou art my love and I am thine; I drew thee to my Valentine This poem never made sense to me, since violets are not blue. In the original French it says cornflowers which makes more sense! What do we think when we hear this? Is it sappy or sentimental? Is it just for children? On February 14th we celebrate Valentine’s Day. Last year, some 224 million roses were grown for Valentine’s Day and it is estimated that Americans will spend 19 billion dollars this year on that day [ii] On the one hand, we seem to spend an enormous amount of money on our relationships, on the other hand, we don’t seem to be doing very well at relating as couples. Being grateful, thanking our spouse, celebrating our love for them, are all good things, but are we focusing too