Patrick endured hardship and separation from all comfort; anything familiar. When his captors, apparent pirates, liberated him from home and hearth, they did not ask, they took. One day free, next day enslaved. Six years, an estimated 2190 days of uncomfortable, frightening, frustrating happenings. He was not discouraged; instead his experiences ignited his fire. Growing ever displeased with his accommodations and company, he escaped. Time is precious, he wasted none; heading straight for his family.... his British home. The courage he used to flee his captors is the same courage that later carried himself back to the Irish people.
Patrick was simply a man of great courage and conviction. He possessed knowledge of something that held significance. It burned in his heart. The need to tell what he knew drove him into the green hills of the north to share his heart with the people. Once a boy in bondage, returning as a man to share the keys to freedom.
We remember him, his name, what he did...centuries later. His life left a mark and changed the course of many lives. The details may be muddied with the passing of time, but this remains...he was a British boy that became a man who gave his heart to Ireland.
What is in your life....that thing tapping on your shoulder to do...to be? You have courage just the same as Patrick. Engage it as he did...do it afraid, knees knocking, hands trembling. Courage is facing the scary things, going out to meet them and looking them in the eye; never flinching. The biggest take away to remember beyond this day is that Patrick did not walk alone. God held his hand, held him steady, made a way to carry him back home. Yes, it is true, Patrick did not walk alone.
So, wherever you are, however it is you celebrate this the 17th day of March, be it a holy day or a reason to drink a green beer, or possibly an excuse to give a pinch to a person not wearing the green....
Remember Patrick on this St. Patrick's Day.
