Jericho Take Heart
Upon awakening from a nearly year long slumber, the Jericho Valentine Phantom sensed love but also great anguish.
Valentine Phantom’s 2020 theme.
The Valentine Phantom decided on this year’s Jericho Valentine theme of “Jericho Take Heart in Community” as a broad reference to the heart of what living as individuals within a group of people and behaving in a way that promotes the well being of all of us as a whole represents. Yes, Valentines is a celebration of sweethearts, of lovers, of best-friends. However personal those individual relationships may be, what makes Valentines even more special is our recognition that we all are capable of such loving relationships as we are all vulnerable to the heart break that sometimes accompanies the different views, opinions, interest, values and other individual human make up that we bring to our relationships and communal bonds.
Within community as in relationships lies unity. Unity is what makes for strong bonds that magnify shared joys, and helps us weather differences. This fiercely cold Valentine’s day can freeze hearts or it can make them more vibrant and deep life ebbing red. (For those not from Vermont, to give you an idea on how cold it was, our hot chocolate was served in ice cube trays). We can shrivel up in the wake of confrontations and avoid those not like us, or we can speak clearly of our own values while understanding that ours is not the most right of views, and in fact may have room for adjustments upon better understanding that of others. In Healing the Heart of Democracy, Parker Palmer writes, “Under stress, an unexercised heart will explode in frustration or fury. If the situation is especially tense, that exploding heart may be hurled like a fragment grenade toward the source of its pain. But a heart that has been consistently exercised though conscious engagement with suffering is more likely to break open instead of apart. Such a heart has learned to flex to hold tension in a way that expands its capacity for both suffering and joy.”
Valentines day is a day to celebrate love, and friendship, but also a time to remember that to get the most of those we must build the openness to others sometimes different than ourselves, and to learn to bear occasional disappointments; therein lies the chance for the most refreshing brilliance of love found even on the coldest of days.
Palmer also writes, “The greater our tendency toward individualism, the weaker our communal fabric; the weaker our communal fabric, the more vulnerable we are to despotic power.” Yes, many of us take great pride in our individuality, and in our groups, alliances, social circles… with good results. They give us a stronger voice, allow us to share our common likes. Yet to withdraw as singular individuals or even into groups only like ourselves is to insulate ourselves from the wealth of many great human attributes that we are avoiding or keeping distant from ourselves. Alexis de Tocqueville (who in the 1800’s wrote Democracy in America) observed of associations, “feelings and opinions are recruited, the heart is enlarged, and the human mind is developed, only by the reciprocal influence of men upon each other”.
My take on this is that our strengths lie in our individual uniqueness and skills magnified in effectiveness and affect by our membership and active role in our community.
Members of Jericho, take heart in your community. Your relationship with her builds vibrancy, your engagement with your neighbors, those like you and those not so like you, builds trust, a sense of belonging, through shared experiences but different conclusions - respect, and a feeling of warmth on a cold Valentine’s Day and on every other day.
Happy Valentine’s Day Jericho - may you continue to share hearts across town as a symbol of our commUNITY!
Bernie
NEWS RELEASE: Valentines Day Phantom strikes Jericho for the second year in a row. No one knows who the Valentine phantom is or if they do they are not saying as they are sworn to secrecy. However some of cupid's crew were out and about on Valentine's eve in Jericho. VT. helping the Valentine Phantom cover the town in hearts and spreading this years theme, "JERICHO, TAKE HEART IN COMMUNITY!"
This year's Cupid Crew were,
The Silly Smiles-Becker Sweeties.
We wish to see so much sweetness in our community! Sending everyone love, connection and compassion this week and all weeks!
The Heartfelt Hemingway Honeys.
Amos and Paula value the nourishment and power of sweetness and community. Wishing you warmth in your heart this kindness week. Be sure to share and pass it on.
Katrina Allen is a Jericho artist who mostly paints colorful abstract flower paintings, plus occasionally hearts and landscapes. She also loves trying to teach her cat tricks, blue paint, big fluffy peonies, chocolate chip cookies, and looking out the window to see who's visiting the bird feeder. To add a little cheerfulness to the world, she sends out a free monthly newsletter of 10 good things about art, nature, creativity, and living joyfully. Visit katrinaallenart.com to find out more.
Maeve Kim, birder, author, musician, teacher, and heart maker.
(AKA my sweetheart)
Every heart handcrafted with care, creativity, and cuteness!
Katrina A. hand painted art displayed across town by the Valentine Phantom.
Christina and Alexis
Jericho Town Library with Lisa our librarian.
Mary Lacy's rooster has heart!
Tank Alston above, and owner Matt Martelle below.
This dance troupe wishes Jericho a Happy Valentine's Day bearing the theme "Jericho Take Heart in CommUNITY!
Dr. Horne at Farrell Chiropractic
Warm hugs are good for your spine and your heart.
Anna at Jolley's wishing you Happy Valentines
Aiden at Jericho General Store. Happy Valentine's Aiden.
Happy Valentine's Day Marge!
Congratulations to Dave and his wife on celebrating their 44th wedding anniversary this year!
We grow-em hardy and stout in Jericho.
Keep those chimneys clean, hearth and heart warm.
Snowman at Jericho Elementary School - that is a cool
warm heart!
Congratulations to Randy & Kitty for 57 years of marriage. Electric blankets warm the feet, wedding
bands of
love warm the heart!
Mane Street Stylists where a haircut is
a love affair!
The Citgo station (across from JCAT) owner, Dan was redeeming lots of VT lottery winning tickets the day before Valentine's Day -
lucky store!
Snowflake Bentley, if alive today would probably like to photograph Valentine's hearts as well as snowflakes -
we have lots of both here in Jericho.
Village Gifts and Tailoring - great toys and definitely hugable stuffed animals!
Don't forget to buy some
Valentine's Heart
stamps at the U.S.P.S.
A hike outdoors does your heart good.
Happy Valentine's Day Matthew!
On this Valentine's Day Jericho's heart kept getting bigger and bigger.
Trent Cooper proprietor of the Sagacious One, where he bakes Trent's bread in Westford, VT.
John (owner of Jericho Country Store)and Jeff one of the many great staff members.
The staff are as friendly as the sandwiches are tasty
Fresh fallen snow, so fresh and puffy I imagined the light airy smell at my favorite bakery - nothing like fresh baked bread, except maybe fresh snow to instantly lift my spirits. Shoveling was not a chore but an excuse to encounter powdery snow-white snow - both continuing falling flakes and resting accumulations of feathery families of fantastic crystals all glimmering in the dawn of an extra and free morning.
