Learning About St. Patrick's Day

I am starting a little late on this challenge, but nevertheless, I am starting.  This post is part of allume.com's challenge of 31 Days to Become a Better Writer.  The assignment today was to read a wikipedia article about St. Patrick and blog about something pertaining to it.  The subject of writing today (actually for Monday, March 19th) is "The Hunt For Voice."


The Post-

St. Patrick’s Day, to me, has always been primarily about wearing green.  As a kid in school, I was always certain to wear green when going to school on that day, be it in the form of a t-shirt, shorts, or maybe even a stripe in my ‘80’s hairbows.  I didn’t want to get pinched by anybody.

As I grew into an adult, it became more of a festive occasion.  And in my early twenties, it became about green beer.  I am not really sure if I ever drank a green beer, but I saw it frequently in my wanderings during those times.

In recent years, I learned more about the man St. Patrick, through a children’s cartoon, Veggie Tales.  There is a little short cartoon on the show Sumo of the Opera that tells the story of St. Patrick.  After seeing that is actually when I believe I began to develop a more favorable perspective of the holiday.

That thought is what brings me to what I want to share today.  When I taught middle school, each class was responsible for leading the morning assembly on Fridays.  I searched for a long time on a subject or something fun that my advisory class could share about when it came their turn to lead the morning assembly.  I don’t remember all the things I came up with, but I do remember what we finally settled upon.  Their presentation fell on a day that was very near St. Patrick’s Day.  Since the holiday is so often associated with a reckless abandon of partying, I thought it would be a good idea to give them a different perspective of who St. Patrick really is.  We researched him, and each student recited one fact about who St. Patrick was or about his accomplishments.  It was a great project and something that I remember with a glad heart, because I sowed something good into my students' lives.

I am still learning new things about him all the time.  When I think of St. Patrick's Day now, I think of the evangelist, somebody sharing Jesus with people who don't know Him.  What a wonderful holiday to celebrate!