Happy St. Patrick's Day

I quickly grabbed a few things on the way out of work so that we could have a green dinner. It was simple but still a fun way for us to be semi-festive. Little Abe was thoroughly impressed. He thought it was so fun that our dinner had a theme. He is obsessed with Star Wars right now so I grabbed the green water bottle with Yoda on it while I was getting the pickles, kiwi, and turkey dogs. The bottle was on clearance for $3. I figured he'd love to have green water with his green dinner.

Our green dessert was about as simple as it gets and yet we both thoroughly enjoyed it. He kept saying throughout dinner, "I didn't know it was St. Pack-kricks day."

After dinner we headed to the great green outdoors so that he could try out one of his birthday presents for the first time. He had lots of fun and I could (can) hardly believe how big my baby boy is. We took a scooter break to search all over the yard see if we could find buds on all the different bushes and trees. He learned a bit about nature, spring, and "baby leaves," and I enjoyed seeing all the different colors and sizes of buds on the bushes and trees throughout our yard.

Despite the fact that I've been rather overworked these past two weeks (including today) we really enjoyed this 2016 St. Patrick's day.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick - An Irish Slave

When Patrick was captured by Irish raiders at the age of 15 he had no love nor interest for the Christian God despite his father and grandfather working for the church. But while he was tending sheep as a slave in Ireland instead of feeling defeated and angry and just resigning to the fact that his life was over he began to seek out God.

No one knows for sure where Patrick spent his time in slavery but based on his letters there's a very good chance he was on the west side of the Island, in the coldest wettest region of Ireland. Tending sheep would have included bringing the sheep out to pasture, keeping watch over them, and bringing them in to safety in the evenings. He would have most likely spent his evenings in a shack of sorts with all the other slaves. He says in his letters that he prayed and fasted regularly and he made a point to never engage in any pagan rituals or activities. For example, often times food would be dedicated to a pagan god. Patrick would then refuse to eat such food; just a small example. The other slaves mocked him and would call him holy boy. But he never felt so close to God and never had such a strong resolve to dedicate his entire being to Him.

One night while Patrick was asleep he had a dream in which someone told him to get ready, that it was time for him to leave. The next night he had a dream in which he was told to, "go. your ship is waiting for you." Patrick was certain that this dream was from God and so he left. After spending so much time in prayer and fasting there was no possible way that Patrick was going to ignore a message from God no matter how dangerous the message was. A runaway slave would have been a fugitive and would be severely punished if caught. No one would harbor a fugitive runaway slave and anyone who found one would certainly return that slave to his owner. Patrick walked something like 200 miles through dangerous terrain as many, many an Irish traveler lost their lives to the bogs of Ireland which Patrick would have had to cross. When he did finally make it to shore there was a boat preparing to leave. Patrick walked up to the captain of the ship and asked if he could come on board as a deckhand. The captain said, "no possible way, and walked back on board." Patrick escaped from slavery. Walked a very arduous journey across Ireland and now when he was about to escape for good, "no."

He says that he wasn't sure what to do but right before the boat was about to leave someone from the ship ran up to him and asked if he was still interested in working on board. He of course said yes and joined the crew. Theory has it that the captain knew instantly that Patrick was an escaped slave. He would certainly have looked like a runaway. He would have spoke horrible Irish with a terrible accent. And no one would be caught dead harboring a fugitive slave. However crossing the Irish sea was hard work and if he took a willing laborer on board right as they were departing who would know the difference.

It took a little while and it wasn't an easy trip but Patrick made his way home. His parents would have been in shock to see him alive 6 years after he'd been captured. It was miraculous to say the least that Patrick escaped slavery in Ireland.

But it was here in Ireland that God first opened my heart, so that - even though it was a late start - I became aware of my failings and began to turn with my whole heart to the Lord my God. For He looked down on my miserable condition and had compassion for me, young and foolish as I was. He cared for me before I even knew who He was, before I could tell the difference between right and wrong. He protected me and loved me even as a father does his own child. 

Because of this I cannot - I will not - be silent. I will tell of the great blessings God has granted to me and the grace He has shown to me in this land of slavery. Because this is the way we should behave toward God - when He has shown us why we were wrong and we have admitted our sins, we should praise Him and proclaim His kindness to everyone in the world.
-St. Patrick, from his letter titled "Confession"

St. Patrick... Let's start back at the beginning

St. Patrick, son of Calpornius, son of Potitus was a Roman citizen born in Britain. His father was a deacon and his grandfather a priest. As noted yesterday St. Patrick was absolutely not Irish. He spoke the British language (no longer spoken, I'm fairly certain; that'd be a dead language) and he would have been learning Latin in school as well. He was of noble birth but his farm would have been nothing like Roman nobility knew. After all he was British (on the very outskirts of the Roman world). As a youth Patrick had no interest in the Christian religion. He was just the son of a Christian family. I find this interesting to note because I have seen commentary on how horrendous an act it was for this pompous Patrick to bring Christianity to the Irish people and "destroy" their culture and way of life.

One night when Patrick's parents were away from the villa a band of Irish raiders looted Patrick's farm almost certainly murdering anyone that would pose a threat to them and then enslaving anyone who'd bring them a profit back in Ireland. Slavery in these times was common place. There were slaves of all different nationalities seemingly everywhere and the Irish raiders made a good profit from capturing and selling slaves. Patrick was taken from his home at the age of 15 and boated off to Ireland in the night. His Christian life of nobility was no more; no more family; no more schooling; no more sleeping in his own bed. He would now spend 6 years as a slave in a foreign land that spoke a foreign language and where there were no traces of Christianity.

What is known of St. Patrick, the most concrete evidence we have from his life, survives in the form of two letters. The original letters are faded, crumbled and gone but six very, very old copies of the letters exist. One copy is in the book of Armagh in the Trinity College library in Dublin. The letters written by Patrick tell a lot about his life and who he was.

After I came to Ireland I watched over sheep. Day by day I began to pray more frequently - and more and more my love of God and my faith in Him and reverence for him began to increase.
-St. Patrick, from his letter titled "Confession"

One of the things that I love most about this man who lived, seemingly a billion years ago is that he was captured into slavery when he was just a youth. He had no love for God when the raiders took him from his life; from everything he knew in the world. But while he was tending sheep as a slave (this was one of the most menial tasks a person could be assigned) in one of the coldest, wettest regions in all of Ireland instead of feeling defeated and angry and just resigning to the fact that his life was over he began to seek God. He began to pray regularly. He actually fell in love with God on a cold Irish hillside in a sheep pasture while being enslaved. Sorry, I don't feel like I can hit upon the slavery issue enough. I mean, that is intense beyond words that I can duly prescribe it. Just there, with that alone, I admire the guy beyond words.

St. Patrick... But first, more about me

I have some Irish blood from both of my Dad's parents and a little from my mom's side too. (My mom's side is quite a bit more mutty BUT I've just about traced a grandparent on my mom's side back to the Mayflower) In all I'm at least one quarter of Irish and one quarter of Scottish and one quarter of English decent. One of the surnames on my dad's side is Toal. This is my closest Irish surname as my Great Grandpa Toal came over from Northern Ireland. I need to really dig into my genealogy before long but little research has shown me that most likely Toal was originally O'Toal which would have first been O'Toole. O'Toole would have been the Anglican version of the Irish O'Tuathail. Everyone on my dad's side considers themselves "Irish," including myself. Although I've a good bit of Scottish and English blood there's just something so intriguing about Ireland. I think the love for the old Emerald Isle gets passed down in the genes.

Let me dream a little now...  A tiny Irish history will thus ensue: The Tuatha De are the race of people who are said to have inhabited the Emerald Isle before the Celts arrived. We're talking pre-history here. There is said to have been a great battle and the Tuatha De Danann lost to the Celtic invaders. The Tuatha De were driven underground or into the under world. I can't say this was such a horrible loss because they then became the gods and goddesses of Ireland. For ages afterwords these were the deities to which the Irish inhabitants prayed and offered sacrifices. The fairy folk you hear of in Irish folklore, the fairies and leprechauns and spirits that haunt the hills were the Tuatha De Danann who were driven into the underworld or should I say are the Tuatha De Danann since many Irish people still believe the fairy folk are there. Since the Toal in my own personal Irish history is a derivative of Tuathail I like to imagine some of my Irish ancestors at the beginning of time living on the very ancient Island of Ireland. Possibly being a descendant of Irish gods and godesses is about as good as being of royal decent, right? I think so. haha!

St. Patrick; Patricius, son of Calpornius, son of Potitus whose name means "noble, of the patrician class" was a Roman citizen born in Britain. His father was a deacon and his grandfather a priest. Maybe you already knew that St. Patrick was not Irish but I think it's safe to say that many, many people assume he was. This British lad is one of my all time favorite historical figures. So, maybe I was raised in a non-denominational Christian church and know very little of religion. I still love the Lord and love the Holy Bible. So, maybe I never lived in Ireland and can only claim one quarter decent. I'm still Irish at heart. I love that St. Patrick is the patron Saint of Ireland and I love that we have a day to celebrate his life and all things Irish (even if most people aren't really celebrating him and probably know very little about Ireland).

More to come just because I'm a bit too enthusiastic about St. Patrick and the glorious emerald Isle.