St. Patrick's Day

As some of you know, I was very involved in the San Diego Irish community and enjoy Irish dancing. I met some lifelong friends through the community who became my family in San Diego. There is an Irish community in Netherlands and there are now 3 Irish dance teachers throughout the country, the closest being in Den Haag which I'm hoping to get involved in at some point. Of course the Irish community here is made up of the Irish citizens living in the Netherlands, a bit different than the Irish communities in the US.

This day in the US is marked by wearing green so you don't get pinched, I think I was the only person wearing green today even at the American Women's Club, eating corned beef and cabbage, making green eggs and ham and anything else green, and some folks using it as an excuse to consume copious amounts of beer. All of this overshadows the true significance of this day and that is celebrating St. Patrick.

While the tale is told of St. Patrick driving out the snakes in Ireland, his role was much greater than that and I'd like to tell you about it with the help of resource from Mustard Seed Associates, based in Seattle, provides information on Celtic Christianity and the work of St. Patrick. http://www.msainfo.org/ Here's a synopsis of Patrick's story:

Patrick was born in England in 390 C.E. He was kidnapped as a teenager and taken to Ireland where he was made a slave. It was in this time that he learned to trust God. After six years he escaped and returned home. Shortly after, he received a vision in which he heard “the voice of the Irish” pleading with him to come and walk amongst them once more. Patrick and his small team not successfully evangelized Ireland in three decades without violence or bloodshed. It is believed this was the beginning of the believers movement, centuries before the Reformation. The Celtic Christian movement that Patrick and his companions birthed was not a part of the Roman Catholic Church.

What distinguished Celtic Christian faith was that it emphasized the importance of calling people to a vital personal faith in Jesus Christ that impacted every area of life. Their faith was Trinitarian in nature with prayers often being offered to “the Three in One and the One in Three”. It was also incarnational and Jesus was intimately known as “God with us”. There was also a strong connection to creation and the knowledge that because all that is created comes from a loving and generous God, all aspects of creation can be God’s means of revelation and testimony.

The Celtic Christian movement was also distinguished by care for the poor, love of creation, invitation to women to serve in leadership and instinctive commitment to a whole life faith. Their Christianity was not limited to a brief prayer in the morning and then plowing into their days activities, but permeated every area of their life.

HAPPY SAINT PATRICKS DAY

I do hope all the children and teachers had fun with green today and catching shamrocks or lepruchans and all the dancers had fun!

It was truly a beautiful day here, we're on a roll of them. I'll close and go to bed by posting a picture of the crocus field in Den Haag, right near their Centraal Station.