St. Patrick's Day Symbols

Blarney Stone

- The Blarney Stone is a stone set in the wall of the Blarney Castle tower in the Irish village of Blarney. Kissing the stone is supposed to bring the kisser the gift of persuasive eloquence. The legend says that an old woman revealed the power of the stone to reward a king who had saved her from drowning. Kissing the stone while under the spell gave the king the ability to speak sweetly and convincingly. It's difficult to reach the stone, kissers have to lie on their back and bend backward or downward while holding iron bars for support.

The Shamrock

- An Irish clover. There is not actually one type of clover that is a shamrock.

- This symbol stems from a story that Patrick used a three leafed shamrock to explain the Trinity. He used it to show that although the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three separate people they can still be one.

Rainbow with a pot of gold

- All I know is that we need to quit seeing this as a symbol of anything other than the Creator of it! St. Patrick's Day or not there is great joy in knowing the same God who made this thing (or not a thing but an pattern of light on rain???) also made me, knows me by name and loves me! I believe the rainbow should remind us of God's love over us and the pot of gold is a reminder of the richness when you rest in it!

Pinching
- I don't have much to say about this except I sure loved hiding green somewhere in my outfit when I was in school so people would think they get to pinch me and then I got to point out I had a dot of green pen on my shoe and ruin all the fun! Ha Ha - what a great sense of humor I have always had huh?

St. Patricks Day

Okay... here is your brief history lesson on who St. Patrick really was and how he became known as the patron saint of Ireland. Obviously this is history and some parts are disputed but overall most of my research has led to this basic conclusion.

Around 390 A.D. a young boy named Maewyn Succat (later to become Patricus also known as Patrick) was born to Calpernius, a Roman-British army officer. It is believed he was born in either Scotland or Roman England. One day while growing up in Britain he was kidnapped by pirates and sold into slavery in Ireland. He is believed to have been a slave for around 6 years and the stories around his escape/freedom are varied. That is not the point. The point is that at some point God intervened in this young mans life, he studied to become a bishop and felt God calling him back to Ireland to convert people to Christianity and a relationship with Jesus. He also set up schools and churches all over the area. Ireland was a very pagan nation and the Celtic's really didn't appreciate his teaching or good doing. He was arrested several times and escaped each of them. St. Patrick spent about 20 years traveling Ireland preaching the word of God. March 17th is the day he died and the day chosen to celebrate him.



So, this St. Patrick's day I encourage you to talk less about green things, leprechauns, and gold and spend more time talking about:

- Loving the lost and having a desire to see them saved. Learn the great commission as a family.
- Who the Irish people are - learn about their culture not just the rumores about them.
- What it means to be pagan and how confusing it can be for seekers to find truth with so many pagan beliefs out there.
- How even when things seem horrible we need to stay true to God and have faith that He has a plan and will use all things to bring glory and honor to Himself. We are the tools but he is the master planner.
- Unlike Leprechauns who keep their treasure hidden we are called to be lights leading the way to the ultimate treasure.

No promises but I will try to get on here soon and post some fun holiday ideas. And don't forget that I said spend LESS time not NO time talking about all the silly stuff. My sister-in-law lets her kids have Lucky Charms (a forbidden sugar cereal in our home) and I might just do that as well this year.

Don't turn Jesus into a party pooper - He delights in our family fun - just don't forget to HONOR HIM ALWAYS and include Him in the party!