St Patrick Bed Time Story

Remembering Saint Patrick

St Patrick and My Kids.

My kids recently asked me what St Patrick’s day is all about. This came up because their school asked them to wear green for Patrick’s day. I have a general idea of what it’s about but mostly out of respect for colleagues who celebrate it. My closest connection to Ireland is my first name Bridget. On second thought, to call that a connections is quite a stretch. So when my kids asked about St Patrick, I decided it was time to know a little bit more than leprechauns, shamrocks and the color green

St Patrick Basics.

A quick search brought me to an article from USA Today where I learned a few basics and some surprising details. 

1. St Patrick was born in 400 Ad in Britain.
2. He was kidnapped by pirates and taken to Ireland when he was a teen.
3. He he turned from atheism to Christianity while in slavery in Ireland.
4. He escaped from slavery and found his way back to Britain

Here’s how Jolie Lee, for USA TODAY NETWORK put it:

St. Patrick — brace yourself — was not actually Irish. Patrick was a nobleman born in about 400 A.D. in Britain and kidnapped by Irish pirates at the age of 16, said Philip Freeman, author of St. Patrick of Ireland: A Biography.

Patrick was born into a religious family, but was an atheist early in his life. However, he rediscovered his faith while enslaved in Ireland, Freeman told USA TODAY Network.

After 17 years as a slave, St. Patrick escaped Ireland and found his way home, but returned to Ireland as a missionary.

“He said he was ready to die in Ireland in order to make his mission successful,” Freeman said.

St Patrick the Missionary.

What I found most intriguing was the fact the St Patrick found his way back to the land where he had been enslaved. Who does that?! A man with God’s call on his life, that’s who.

According to crossway.org, the trauma of slavery is what turned Patrick to God.

The trauma of slavery turned him to the Lord, and he strove to spend each day in communion with God. Six years later he escaped and returned to Britain. After a time of theological study, Patrick felt the Lord’s call to return to Ireland as a missionary to his captors.

Despite strong opposition from both the Irish and his Christian contemporaries back home, Patrick speaks of “thousands” converted through his ministry, including sons and daughters of Irish kings, from the worship of “idols and filthy things.” This success came from Patrick’s deep understanding of what Scripture teaches regarding missions and a steadfast dedication to his work.

Patrick’s work firmly planted the Christian faith in Irish soil and left a deep imprint on the Celtic church that would grow up from this soil. The central place that the Bible held in his thinking helped initiate an impetus among the Irish toward literacy……………………………..

“In the light, therefore, of our faith in the Trinity I must make this choice, regardless of danger I must make known the gift of God and everlasting consolation, without fear and frankly I must spread everywhere the name of God so that after my decease I may leave a bequest to my brethren and sons whom I have baptized in the Lord—so many thousands of people.” – Patrick

St Patrick’s Resonating Faith.

So, tonight I answered my kid’s question about St Patrick with a story I have come to understand a little more. I told them a bed time story about a teenage boy plucked from his family and sold into slavery. It’s a story of a traumatized atheist who found God in his pain. A story of a forgiving man with a calling on his life, who dared to go back to minister in his captor’s land. A story of survival,faith and perseverance that resonates with any one who is familiar with suffering.

It turns out even I, an African and American woman, can identify with a British born Irish Missionary who lived centuries ago. Why? Because his story points back to the same God I have faith in. It’s the same faith that challenges me to look beyond skin color, language, accents, social status, culture and all the other barriers that we create. It’s the faith that recognizes God’s spectacular brilliance in creating so much variety and diversity to showcase that every human being is equally valued. It’s a story I’m glad my kids challenged me to learn.