Is love dead?

February has long been associated with love, and Valentine's Day is celebrated in a number of countries, including the U.S., Mexico, Argentina, Britain, France, Australia, and Canada among others.

Strangely, it's origins lie in the Roman festival of Lupercalia, a fertility rite involving the sacrificial killing of animals celebrated on February 15. The name was reportedly changed to St.Valentine's Day in the fifth century by Pope Gelasius I to honor Christian martyrs by the same name. Literary links to the ancient festival and modern celebrations include Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, which opens during the Lupercalia in Rome, and Chaucer's fourteenth-century work, Parlement of Foules, written to celebrate romantic love and the first anniversary of King Richard II's engagement. He wrote, "For this was on seynt Volantynys day, Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make." ("For this was on St. Valentine's Day, when every bird cometh there to choose his mate." Aren't we glad we don't have to deal with Old English!)

Fast forward to the twentieth century. Heart-shaped boxes of candy, flowers, cards about love, and romantic candlelight dinners are some of the trappings that accompany this observance. In the Philippines, it is the most common wedding anniversary, and mass marriages of literally hundreds of couples often occur on February 14. Valentine Day's message of love has been extended beyond romantic boundaries to include family, friends, neighbors, and school children. I still remember the parties during my elementary school years and the excitement when the big box where all the valentines had been deposited was opened and the cheery greetings were passed out.

What has happened in the twenty-first century? As it marches on toward its third decade, it seems to have left love on the side of the road—or at least sent it to the back of the bus. News reports depict friends and neighbors parting ways over differences of opinion, family members opposing one another on any number of issues, students being bullied into committing suicide, and private citizens as well as terrorists invading schools and public gatherings to slaughter attendees. Large crowds of protesters march in the streets, demanding their rights, then vandalizing cars and businesses and attacking bystanders without regard for the rights of others. Racial, religious, and ethnic prejudices abound. Much of the world appears to teeter on the brink of anarchy.

Still, reports of love, neighborliness, and fellow-feeling creep into the news now and then. Strangers reaching out to those they do not know offer hope that love may not be facing its imminent demise.

Writers, like everyone else, are affected by the changes in our world. Unlike everyone else, we have the unique opportunity to inspire conversations when we incorporate into our stories the concerns and fears of real people—not only making our books relevant to readers, but also preserving the woes of our time for posterity. Through our characters, we can show the impact of rapidly changing and unstable world conditions on individuals and families. We might even find comfort and hope for ourselves as we allow our characters to express their concerns and seek ways to deal with what appear to be hopeless situations. They can articulate the feelings many readers are reluctant to voice. They can open the door to dialogues that need to take place, whether within the framework of a readers group or book club or simply among family members or friends.

The people who populate our pages might even remind us of the dangers inherent in isolating ourselves behind the impersonal environment of our cell phones and other forms of digital communication that separate us from hugs and human touch. Yes, technology serves a useful purpose when we can't be someplace in person; but rather than allowing it to replace physical presence when we interact with family and community, we have the power to bring love back into our lives by sharing it in person with those around us—as do our characters.

We humans have a great capacity to love and a strong desire to be loved. While we cannot alter world events, we can certainly control how we respond to them, how we deal with others, how we reach out to help where help is needed. Returning to the mentality of the heartless festival of animal sacrifices should never be an option. Instead, we can move forward to demonstrate through our actions and our characters the superiority of love as a counter to the anger and hostility and violence that permeate so much of the air we breathe.

We can show that love never fails. Not in February. Not in any time of year.

Editor Linda Lane has returned to her first love—writing—while maintaining her editing work. Her novels fall into the literary category because they are character driven rather than plot driven, but their quick pace reminds the reader of genre fiction. They also contain elements of romance, mystery, and thriller. You can contact her at websites: LSLaneBooks.com and DenverEditor.com.