Kitchen chairs turned upside down, cereal in the fridge and milk in the cupboard, a remnant of green fabric caught in a crack, a trail of glitter leading to a pot o’ gold. Have you ever spotted any of these tell-tale signs of a leprechaun intrusion? They’ve been known to drop into households in the wee hours of St. Patrick’s Day.
Though I’ve never had a leprechaun come to my house, I’m quite familiar with their distant cousins, the brownies. When I was a young child, I loved brownie visits because I’d wake up to find a nice clean house. When I was in second grade, I joined the Girl Scout Brownies and learned the secret of WHOO the brownies were. I delighted in taking my turn to play “brownie.” I got up in the night, crept around as stealthily as a bulldozer and picked up the house. It was the only time cleaning was any fun. Happily, the tradition carries on with my daughter.
The magical thinking of childhood creates a magic all its own. The willingness to believe that good things will happen is more than just charming. It casts a vision for little miracles to occur. My dad grew up in the depression and he noticed that as soon as his older brothers stopped believing in Santa, Santa stopped leaving presents for them. So he was determined to keep believing and he kept receiving. The irony of children believing in the magic of holidays is their belief creates the magic.
Too bad my kids didn’t have the expectation of delightful leprechaun pranks pulled on St. Patty’s day. Maybe it’s not too late. J
Maewyn Succat
(385 – 461 A.D.)
Maewyn was born and raised on a windswept British Isle. When he was 16 years old, he was kidnapped by pirates and carried away to a distant island where he was sold as a slave. He worked night and day as a shepherd. His long hours tending the sheep gave him lots of time to think. He found comfort in contemplating the life of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ.
After six years of slavery, he found an opportunity to escape and he took it. He traveled by ship to Gaul (now France). There he devoted himself to the ministry of the Roman Catholic Church and eventually became a Priest.
And then the dreams came.
Maewyn dreamed that the people of the island where he had been enslaved were reaching out to him for help. He knew in his heart what help they needed and he knew that he must return and teach them about Jesus. So he found himself en route to the island where he would, once again, be a servant. Only this time his master was One he felt privileged to serve.
Although Maewyn wasn’t the first Christian missionary on the emerald isle, he was the most successful. He converted nobles who were influential in spreading the gospel message to all the people.
Many years later, Maewyn Succat was sainted, becoming Saint Patrick. Irish people still celebrate his gift to the Emerald Isle—the Christian faith.
Source: familyfunshop.com/saintpatricksday.htm
Source: familyfunshop.com/saintpatricksday.htm
An interesting study on the slave to servant concept. Are we slaves in our homes or servants? How do we transform, as Maewyn did? Also interesting the significance of the impact it made to convert the leaders of the country and the ripple effect of reaching the masses. I googled St. Patrick, and he was "prone to prayer," often praying a hundred times in a day. Today we would perceive that as excessive, and worry about his sanity. Yet look what he did. What is reality and what is spirituality? Well, you can see you have stimulated a lot of thought. More questions than answers.
ReplyDeletep.s. How fun you passed on "the brownies!" I didn't do that with my kids, and what a loss. As I recall, our parents became very "deaf," to night noises when we were working on a brownie mission-- I suspect if we'd been reading a book, they'd have shut off the lights and sent us to bed!
ReplyDeleteToo funny--and true! I remember hiding under the blanket with a book and a flashlight and somehow being "discovered."
ReplyDeleteMy former life as a "brownie" came up when I was telling one of my "Tashi Stories" that my daughter is always asking for.
Your "slave to servant" concept stimulated some pondering. It reminds me of Corrie ten Boom and her sister, Bessie. "The Hiding Place" takes you inside the head of someone who made that transformation. I'm thinking Bessie must have carried a prayer in her heart continually. She was very much in both a real and a spiritual world and she was such a blessing to those around her.