Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year

In 2010, both Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year fall on Sunday February 14. However, that is not the only thing that Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year have in common.

Both Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year revolve around love.
While Valentine's Day originally started out to be all about love between sweethearts, through the years it has become more wonderfully inclusive. It is now a day to show extra love for the children, family, friends and sometimes strangers in our lives. Chinese New Year is also a day very important for families. People who celebrate always get together and to tell stories and remember good times. One of the ways Chinese New Year is celebrated is by remembering family who have left this earth. The Chinese culture is one that reveres the elderly, but during Chinese New Year the elderly family members are honored even more than usual.

Both Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year revel in red.
In my opinion, there could be no better color than red to express the passion and love we feel for those we love. Valentine's Day sports red hearts, red clothes, red everything-with a little pink thrown in for good measure. Chinese New Year also decks itself out with red-sometimes even the doors and window panes are painted red. And just as chocolates are usually given in a red candy box for Valentine's Day, children are given gifts in red envelopes for Chinese New Year.

Both Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year involve the giving of gifts.
Gifts that Valentine's Day recipients receive can be almost anything, but the traditional gifts are cards, candy, flowers, and jewelry. During Chinese New Year, children are given money in red envelopes. The gifts for both holidays are tokens of love and affection and as such should be prized no matter what the monetary value is.

Just a note about Christians who celebrate Valentine's Day and/or Chinese New Year

Both Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year have elements that are not compatible with Christian beliefs
For Chinese Christians, Chinese New Year is still an important family holiday even though there are elements in the traditional celebration that are no longer compatible to their Christian beliefs. This should be easy for the rest of the Christian community to understand. After all, most of the holidays that Christians celebrate in the United States are ones that had beginnings decidedly un-Christian. Most holidays still have elements, such as the cupid attached to Valentine's Day, which Christians either purposely ignore or choose to not investigate closely. When Christian Chinese families celebrate Chinese New Year, they are celebrating the wonderful things about it and ignoring elements such as astrology and horoscopes. They join with all Christians who repudiate "luck" and instead thank God for His past blessings and favor as they pray and ask His blessings on all family and friends for the coming Chinese New Year. For Christians Valentine's Day can be another opportunity to love others as Christ has loved us.

Happy Chinese New Year to my dear friend and her Chinese family.