Valentine's day 2011 || Spreading the love!

I might not be a huge V-day fan, but how can one not want to celebrate love? So I decided to use the focus today seems to place on love to spread some of the love I have for a handful of wonderful participants in the blogosphere. Below you will find some posts from bloggers you just can't help but fall in love with.

1. At Foodie and the Chef you will find recipes and restaurant highlights by a superb, young chef and a lawyer by training, foodie by heart.

Their recommended recipe for V-day: Sour-cream/beetroot/white chocolate truffles

2. Bleeding Espresso is written by Michelle Fabio, an American living in Italy. Her blog details the fabulous Italian bella vita and includes a particular favorite of mine: "love Thursdays." Every Thursday Bleeding Espresso posts a picture of a heart found in the neighborhood that week.

3. Critical Sass devotes itself to challenging societal norms and exposing false assumptions. True to its name, Critical Sass approaches its mission in a probing yet humorous manner. And all this with a wink to Jessie Spano - what more could one ask for?! A recent post addresses the irony of asking one of the most powerful women in the world whether she dreams of a fairytale wedding, what she does to be romantic, and whether she'd be a subservient wife.

4. Charitable Living is a blog that continues to inspire. Written by an amazing women busy fighting her way through cancer, it never fails to remind me the importance of love. One particular quote I want to share is:

"When people ask me “how are you?”. They are often a bit uncomfortable, as am I. What to say? Thursday’s answer:”The sun is shining, it’s not too hot, my husband loves me. "

At the same time, those at Charitable living also understand the need for change in the American health care system. In addition to cherishing each day, each day is also used for working for this change.

5. The blog Spacious Faith acts as a platform where a Mennonite pastor we know explores faith-related topics. One recent post spells out perfectly why Christian churches need to step up to the plate when it comes to loving LGBT individuals as much as they profess to love everyone else:

1. Evangelism to Non-Christians. Many people outside the church think that Christians hate gay people. In October of this year, the Religious News Poll found that 65% of people surveyed believe that “religious messages contribute to higher rates of suicide among gay and lesbian youth” (Christian Century, Nov. 16, 2010.) Who wants to be part of a bigoted, hateful organization?

2. Evangelism to GLBTQ Individuals. How can we share the love of Christ with someone that we will not include fully in the church? “Love the sin, hate the sinner” is not an option when the so-called sin is an inherent, God-given aspect of a person’s identity.

3. Spiritual Nurture of GLBTQ Christians. A gay couple once left the church I serve because we were too liberal. Just because someone happens to be attracted to members of the same sex does not automatically make them theologically liberal. The fact is, many GLBTQ Christians are pretty conservative in their theology, and they should be able to find acceptance in a church that nurtures their faith

4. Spiritual Health of the Church. In “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King Jr. says that the church should be the headlights, not the taillights. As prophetic, justice-seeking people, grounded in the love of Christ, we should be lighting the way for full acceptance and inclusion of sexual minorities in society. We should not find ourselves being dragged along behind the momentum of popular opinion. As the church runs to play “catch up” with the rest of the culture, it risks loosing its integrity.

5. Promotion of Healthy Relationships. Among those who believe that GLBTQ people should be accepted in the church, I often find the attitude that a person’s “lifestyle choices” are private and the church should just butt out. I would argue that any church that butts out is not being church. As the redeemed community of Christ, we should be very concerned about the lifestyle choices that our brothers and sisters in the church are making. We should care who they sleep with. But the criteria for appropriate, healthy sexual relationships should not be based on the genders of the people in the relationship. We’re called to a higher standard; our criteria must be based on issues of commitment, love, respect, justice.

Another post reminded me that:

“Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will renounce the faith by paying attention to deceitful spirits . . . They forbid marriage and demand abstinence from foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, provided it is received with thanksgiving; . . . If you put these instructions before the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 4)

6. A blog I recently discovered and fell head-over-heels in love with is Sociological Images. This blog offers a huge collection of amazing pictures, graphs, films, comics etc., accompanied with insightful commentary. A recent post revealed that nearly 80% of men aged 18-24 would like to receive flowers for Valentine's day! 61% of men from all age groups feel the same way. So dear readers, flowers turn out to be a great, low cost, high-value gift for whomever you would like to treat this, or any other, day. For more interesting tidbits on V-day, check out this compilation!

7. Life Hack is one of those ultra-addictive productivity blogs (wow - just realized how oxymoronic that is: "productivity blog" .... ). Two of the most helpful tips I've seen on how to have a better love life is from a post at Life Hack:

1. Agree on How to Argue:

- Nobody leaves during an argument without saying where they're going.

- Arguments that last longer than 3 days are obviously stupid and will not be allowed to continue.

- An argument will never mean that the relationship itself is in question.

2. Say You're Sorry Every Day

8. Friendly Anarchist is the blog that made me think about going to Spain to write my thesis. Still don't know if that will pan out, but props are due to this site nonetheless. One of Friendly Anarchist's coolest ideas was the Walk with Flowers Day. Go here to read more about it.

And stay tuned for the book this site's writer will be publishing in March on his philosophy.

9. No list of blogs and bloggers I adore is complete without Glenn Greenwald. This guy is simply amazing. Not only does he write the most scathing truth-to-power articles but he has also made it a mission to challenge the US DOMA (Defense of Marriage) Act. Greenwald has convincingly explained the inhumanity of a country that forces its citizens to choose between their country and their love for their partner:

"... being forced to choose between one's country and one's most central relationship -- being, in essence, barred from living in one's own country -- is a grave injustice. Even under the best of circumstances, there are burdens and limitations imposed. But the point is that huge numbers of Americans in that situation -- probably most -- are not lucky. Quite the contrary: they are unable to live in their spouse's country for any number of reasons, and are thus forced to live apart from the person who is most important to them, while others are forced into very risky or otherwise untenable predicaments (living in the U.S. illegally, entering sham marriages, making huge sacrifices of career, livelihood and family to live abroad) in order to be with the person they love. It's an inhumane and discriminatory legal framework that is purely punitive, has no conceivable value or justification, and imposes profound hardship on people who have done absolutely nothing to deserve it."

UPDATE: Obama will no longer defend constitutionality of section 3 DOMA! See "The Indefensible 'Defense of Marriage Act'" for more.

10. To conclude this medley, a few love-related articles from my two all-time favorite news sites: Common Dreams and Democracy Now.

Thinking of jewelry for V-day? Please, reconsider. Not only is jewelry utterly useless (is it too much to ask to get a gift that doesn't lose its value instantaneously and that I can actually use to do something cool with?) but it is also harmful. Harmful for the planet and the humans who make it and life near the places where the precious metals and stones are excavated. Common Dreams reports on the damage Walmart's "Love, Earth" jewelry does.

I recently found out about an amazing man, Doctor Izzeldin Abuelaish, on Democracy Now. This doctor witnessed the deaths of three of his daughters and his niece when his house was bombed by an Israeli rocket. Despite this Palestinian gynecologist's work in Israeli hospitals, caring for and saving the lives of Israeli women, his house was bombed during the 2008 Gaza war. Yet, somehow, this doctor has managed not to seek revenge but to instead hold onto his love for his daughters and niece and to use this love to work for peace. He explained:

"I will never forget—the opposite. All of the time, I feel, I am determined, those girls, as other girls of the world, that I believe in their potential—they are asking me, "Do more. Bring us justice, and keep our holy souls holy, and fight with wisdom and good words."... Those daughters, when I want to bring them justice, I must be healthy. And hate, as every one of us knows, it’s a poison. We don’t want to be injected with it. If you want to achieve a noble goal and cause, you must be healthy mentally, spiritually and physically, to defend your goals."

Please read the full story here. It is the best Valentine's day gift I can give you.

* Thanks to all the wonderful bloggers out there that made this post possible! Love you guys :)