Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

I'm just amazed at how many years I've been able to avoid inquiring about St. Patrick's Day. I don't believe I have ever truly known anything more than for some silly reason we wear green (or get pinched if we don't) and we eat corned beef and cabbage and some people play Irish music. Other than that, it seemed ridiculous to me that we did this every year.

So, this year, I have cared to listen, and I learned. Things I didn't know and, frankly surprised me:

* St. Patrick was alive a REALLY long time ago! His death was on --March 17, in the mid 400's. Reports vary of actual dates. That's over --1,500 years ago....and we're STILL talking about him!

* St. Patrick was not Irish, he was from Britain and was captured and taken to Ireland. If I heard this before, it never stuck. This year, I heard it 3 times and I'm writing it...maybe it will stick!

* He returned to Ireland to share the gospel of Christ Jesus. He used the shamrock, and it's 3 leaves in one, to describe the trinity of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. All one, yet all distinct parts of the whole.

* I heard there weren't any snakes there to begin with and he didn't drive them out.

OK, you see, I didn't pay much attention, but this year I have. I also have a new love for Irish songs as my dear friend played Irish music at our work potluck today and also at her home where I ate a second helping of corned beef and cabbage and soda bread! I'm sort of paying for that with a bit of indigestion, but it was yummy!