Like most Americans, I have Irish blood in these veins and the Irish tradition of celebrating St. Patrick's Day which was woven into our public school education. As a teen I read the story of not only St. Patrick, but also St. Columba (Scotland's patron saint) and St. George (England's patron saint) and wondered why Patrick was singled out for celebration in this country.
Regardless of those youthful ponderings, I very much enjoyed reading about the life of St. Patrick because if nothing else, it is a testimony to the power just one person can have in affecting great change. Kidnapped and sold into slavery as a teen, Patrick escaped his captors, converted to Christianity and then returned to the place of his captivity to bring a new way of living to an entire island nation.
I suppose he could have run and never looked back, that's what most would have done. He would have gone on to some kind of life or other and we would never have heard his name mentioned. But conversion has powerful, remarkable effects. One is that the eyes of the heart are opened to the fact that without Christ, all life, all ways of living, no matter how financially prosperous or physically gratifying, is slavery. The other is an amazing capacity to forgive and love is planted in the heart. Such love, such compassion grew in Patrick's heart, that over 1500 years later, we're still talking about him.
No matter what your beliefs, the story of Patrick of Ireland is worth at least a glance for the simple fact that it illustrates that life may throw you some punches, may even knock you down, but it's up to you whether you stay down. Not only can you choose to get back up, but you can choose to help others up too, maybe even the people who out you in the dirt to begin with.
While Patrick was in Ireland, Pericles was in Greece making quite the parallel point about what matters most in life when he said, "What you leave behind is no what is engraved in stone, but what is woven into the lives of others." No doubt he meant those closest to us such as friends and family. But, Patrick managed to weave such a legacy of love that it is still celebrated to this very day. Imagine!
I can't imagine, really. I can't imagine having a life that meant so much to so many. But, I can imagine starting right where I am and making my life count, even in a small way to those I come in contact with. Not just my family and acquaintances, but co-workers, strangers, pouring even a drop or two into the life of everyone I meet.
Shamrocks and rainbows are all well and good, and gold is a wonderful treasure, but the only gifts we give and received that truly matter are measured in kindness and the only true wealth is love and friendship.
Kindness, even the very smallest kindness, cost nothing, means everything, and is never ever wasted. And maybe that's the tradition I want to create on this day each year to truly celebrate a life well lived.
Outfit Info: J. Crew Top from ThredUp, Flats from Shoe Carnival,
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