St. Patrick Will Get His Day

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Saturday, March 17, brought celebration among even the smallest communities in the world. Why do we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? To stomp on the spirit of a man whom, quoted from a native Irish man “soaked all the fun out of Ireland”. A man who spent his life converting Pagans to Catholicism, making it the major religion in Ireland today. A man whom hated alcohol, hated parties, and all else evil in the world.

It brings back memories of my last March, post St. Patrick’s Day, in Ireland. Making conversation with the bartender,
~“How late are you working tonight?”
-“Oh, I’m running back and forth, doing this, doing that, working off me sins!”
~”Do you go to church?”
-”I do, mornin’ and night! I tell ya, I must’ve done something in me past life, cause I’m shore payin’ fer it now!”

St. Patrick’s Day is about letting go of all that binds us. It’s about drinking a pint of Guiness with fellow passengers to the grave (stolen from Charles Dickens), about singing and dancing and story-telling with our friends and loved ones. I’m lucky to have spent St. Patrick’s Day in the company of such great people. I would never take back the memories of these times shared with friends or listening to a stranger sing ac-cappella to a heartfelt song about love in a time of sorrow and famine. Church, although meant to be binding, can destroy these priceless moments of merriment and drunken togetherness when taken too seriously. Let your work and worries go, drink, and be merry.

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