An Old Irish Blessing

May love and laughter light your days,

and warm your heart and home.

May good and faithful friends be yours,

wherever you may roam.

May peace and plenty bless your world

with joy that long endures.

May all life’s passing seasons

bring the best to you and yours!

Another old Irish blessing says:

If God sends you down a stony path,
may he give you strong shoes.

As St. Patrick’s Day begins, it seems that all I’m hearing about is pub crawling and green beer and a good excuse to be irresponsible with drinking.  How sad that this seems to be the message we associate with the day.  For devout Catholics, the day is about celebrating the life of a saint.  For those of us who appreciate our Celtic roots, it is about appreciating the way that St. Patrick had of bringing Christianity to Ireland without erasing the traditions and culture that the people held dear.

St. Patrick had a stony path; and apparently he also had strong shoes.  Although we think of him as the consummate Irishman, St. Patrick was English.  He was kidnapped into slavery at the age of sixteen by some Irish raiders and held captive for six years, working as a herdsman.  Although there is no historical indication that he was particularly devout, praying and growing in faith was the way he sustained himself during his captivity.  When the time came that he had a vision telling him to return home, his trip began with a walk of nearly two-hundred miles.  He made it home, only to return again to Ireland and bring his faith to the people he should have seen as enemies.  The rest is history — or maybe mythology in the fine oral tradition of Irish storytelling.

The past week has brought several friends to my attention whose paths are a bit stony right now.  For all we know, this could be true of anyone we encounter.  We all have stones in our path from time to time; and the task of clearing them can seem impossible.  What I’d like to take with me this St. Patrick’s Day is that sometimes the path to our destination is a rocky one, and the best we can do is to put on our strong shoes and keep walking.