Yad S'kcirtap .Ts : That's about how backwards we've got it!

I was thinking about today and how so many people use today as another excuse to get dressed up and drink too much. I couldn't help but wonder how St. Patrick would feel if he knew how his life was being celebrated today.

If you're like most people (myself included), you don't know much about St. Patty's day except for the fact that if you don't wear green you'll get pinched. You may also know that it is an Irish celebration of Irish/Celtic culture, there's a lot of shamrocks, green beer and leprechaun folklore. I have Irish in my blood, no doubt. But I was wondering today where this all started. So where else to find information then wikipedia =) I also found this article...



Read this: St. Patrick: One of the Greatest Missionaries Who Ever Lived

I was shocked to find that St. Patrick was not even Irish! He was some british kid raised Christian that got captured by pirates and sold into slavery in Ireland. He came from a family that was highly involved in the church, but didn't ever have the need for God. Then has was the slave of a shepherd and spent many long hours crying out to God. It is here that he found Jesus and lived a life dedicated to God.  

What would St. Patrick think if he walked by any Irish pub and saw men and women wearing the shamrock ( that he used to share how we are saved from our sins ) getting completely drunk and using him for the reason?

Wouldn't his heart break? 

Wouldn't he want to sit down and explain that a life of self-pursuit will never satisfy us? Wouldn't he tell us that God has a life that can be better than getting wasted at any excuse? Wouldn't he tell us that  it's not an easy life ( self sacrifice isn't easy for anybody ), but it is a life dedicated to a meaningful purpose?

I'm sure that even St. Patrick himself would have joined in on some of the festivities and had a green beer or two. I know he would, because that's exactly what he did back in his day. He wasn't about the rules and traditions that the Roman Catholic Church upheld. He was willing to sell all of his inheritance back home in Britian, leave a comfortable life and spend his life focused on others. 

I'm okay with drinking a green beer today, but I want my CHEERS to be in honor of a man that understood the Gospel that Christ died to bring. I'm okay with wearing green today, but I want it to be a symbol of striving to live a life focused on others and not myself. I want to see the shamrock today and be reminded of God's faithfulness of salvation and eternal life. 

From now on Happy St. Patrick's Day has a whole new meaning.