Paul Dunion, EdD

Valentines day is typically a chocolate worshiping time.  My hunch is that our confectionary cravings might be viewed as a deep hunger for the sweetness of life. I understand sweetness to be a tender arousal of heart which deepens our connection to ourselves,  to others, to nature or even possibility to the Sacred.  A couple of examples come to mind.  Recently, while visiting my son and his family, I encountered sweetness. I was downstairs sitting in front of the fireplace with my son and my daughter-in-law. My grandchildren were upstairs watching a movie with friends. One of the friends brought an empty bowl of popcorn down to us and apparently returned upstairs asking my granddaughter Erika, who was the guy sitting downstairs with her parents. Moments later the entire group descended the stairs with Erika yelling out, “That’s no guy, that’s my Grandpa!” She proceeded to run over and jump up onto my lap, snuggling in like a puppy who can’t get close enough to its mother.  I quickly experienced a tender arousal of heart. Another story I recently read at a workshop had to do with a woman who had a nerve severed in her lip in order to remove a tumor, resulting in a permanent disfiguration of her mouth.  She expressed immediate despair upon hearing of her condition. Her husband responded by saying, “It’s kind of cute”, and proceeded to make the necessary adjustment to his own lips such that he could coordinate a kiss which would be a perfect fit. After I told the story, a deep silence fell over the group which seemed to usher in the Sacred.