Be-Lated St. Paddy's Day Post

Sigh... I feel like such a failure. I neglected to post on St. Patrick's Day. And yet, I know that I'm not because unlike most of my friends, I AM Irish and don't need to make up for any insufficiencies on the most holy day of the year. So to all my non-Irish friends, I pardon you for your non-Irishness; I hope you wore green on St. Patrick's Day. If you drank a non-Irish brew on Friday then I'm not your friend anymore. ~Michael

But seriously, for St. Paddy's Day, we went to our friends the Morrissey's house and enjoyed a nice night of fellowship, beer and rude limericks. You could tell it was a Christian party when there were at least twenty beers left at the end of the night. I took 2 Harps and 2 Guinness home as parting presents. It's good to be Irish!

But this post could never be complete without my salute to Patrick himself. If you haven't read it, read How the Irish Saved Civilization, by Thomas Cahill. It really is a good book and less absurd than it sounds. Patrick, born Patricius in Romanized Britain, became an Irish slave, escaped after 6 years of service and returned some years later as a missionary to Ireland. He loved the people fiercely and gave his entire life to the salvation of that country. What I love about him is his approach. He concentrated moreso on love and peace rather than on sexual sin (which is no small thing still). The Irish always fought amongst themselves up until Patrick. By his death, most of the country was converted and peaceful, though still willing to fight if needs be. (We're warriors at heart!) Patrick was a great cross-cultural missionary because he was humble and was in awe of God. We owe a lot to this man because his service brought about much good in Europe in the years to come as his labors gave birth to a missionary movement during the dark ages. Patrick indeed was a Saint. He was also a great theologian and wrote one book called Confession. I've yet to read it, but it sounds really good.

Ok, that's my St. Paddy's Day post. If any of you drank non-Irish beer last Friday, really, I'm no longer your friend... really.... ~Michael

PS - ok, so I was joking, but seriously, what's wrong with Harp and Bass? At least they have taste! Whereas Coors is colored water and Bud gives people with taste a headache.