St. Patrick's Day

Ready for a good history lesson?

Jared shared with me the story of St. Patrick last week and I did some of my own research on why we celebrate this day. Here is a summary of the story!

Saint Patrick was kidnapped and taken to Ireland as a slave. He escaped slavery eventually and went back home to Britain. He later returned to Ireland in the year 432 to serve as a missionary. Saint Patrick is credited with bringing Christianity to the pagan and polytheistic people of Ireland. Why is St. Patrick's day symbolized by a shamrock? St. Patrick used the clover as a metaphor for the Holy Trinity: Father, Spirit, and Son. Patrick died on March 17 in 461 after 30 years of ministry in Ireland and was recognized later as a Saint by the Catholic church.

I was surprised! Maybe I'm just out of the loop, but I don't know that I've ever actually heard the background of St. Patrick's Day.

I started thinking about the history behind this holiday and really just became sad - I don't know how else to put it. I got on Facebook last night and my news feed was full of pictures of green beer, people posting about bar crawls...

In memory of a missionary, drink green beer. Evangelist...green beer?

Is that weird to anybody else?

I am obviously not telling anyone how to or how not to celebrate Saint Patrick's day. That choice is left up to you. My only point is that, after really learning why we celebrate Saint Patrick's day, America's choice of celebrations ("copious consumption of alcohol," as Wikipedia puts it) just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

Then I started thinking about it even more...watch out!...and started considering Christmas and Easter. Again, everyone celebrates differently. I grew up with Santa and the Easter Bunny and would argue that I've turned out completely fine! They are fun traditions to hold to as a family chooses to, as long as they don't overshadow the true holiday. But as a society, how far have we come from the true meaning of these Christian holidays? Easter was the one that really got me. "Look kids, Easter! When you go to bed tonight, a 6-foot bunny is going to come put eggs in a basket for you!" Because, obviously, rabbits lay eggs. And a giant rabbit break and entering into your house isn't creepy at all (I had nightmares as a kid thanks to big brother Danny's stories of Easter...no joke!). And what exactly does that have to do with Jesus dying on the cross for the sins of a fallen world?

I'll be stepping off my soapbox now - for the six of you that will see this, thanks for listening! I simply felt lead to share my new understanding of St. Patrick's day, and perhaps a reminder to celebrate these holidays for what they are worth.