Marilyn's Musings
March 18, 2025
Happy St Patrick’s Day. Of course, I did some research and there was too much to share with you today. Here is a little history about St. Patrick’s life. There is much more to be found out online. A lot of people celebrate St. Patrick’s Day by eating Irish food and drinking “green beer”. There is a city that dyes a river green in honor of St. Patrick. Here is the story of the part of his life when he found God and became a saint.
Saint Patrick was a 5th-century Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Much of what is known about Saint Patrick comes from the Declaration, which was allegedly written by Patrick himself. It is believed that he was born in Roman Britain in the fourth century, into a wealthy Romano-British family. His father was a Christian deacon and his grandfather a priest. According to the Declaration, at the age of sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken as a slave to Gaelic Ireland. It says that he spent six years there working as a shepherd and that during this time he found God. The Declaration says that God told Patrick to flee to the coast, where a ship would be waiting to take him home. After making his way home, Patrick went on to become a priest. According to tradition, Patrick returned to Ireland to convert the pagan Irish to Christianity. The Declaration says that he spent many years evangelizing in the northern half of Ireland and converted thousands. Tradition holds that he died on 17 March and was buried at Downpatrick. Over the following centuries, many legends grew up around Patrick and he became Ireland's foremost saint. Check out the different stories online about St. Patrick.
Last week was an anniversary of sorts that many of us didn’t know about unless we watch the news. I like to watch Channel 7 Eyewitness News as I like the anchors. They did a special ½ hour program on the 5th anniversary of COVID and the world shutting down. Yes…it was 5 years ago last week that all of sudden we had to grab whatever food was in the stores and go into lockdown in our homes to stay safe and not get sick. We never thought it would last as long as it did. I remember driving home from work that night and my son calling me and telling me to go food shopping and that things were getting scary. I think we all remember the “toilet paper” crisis. I remember meeting at the church and deciding to cancel the next Thrift Shoppe sale. I remember not being able to worship together in church for a long time. Pastor Susan kept things going with virtual worship which we all got used to. Thank you, Susan, for getting us thru that. After a while, Alan came and played the organ and I went to the church and recorded his playing so Susan could include it virtually. I am sure we all remember different things we did during COVID. I started my weekly emails on Tuesday mornings to the ladies I would usually see in the Thrift Shoppe. I rambled on about going for a walk to Dunkin, and walking around my garden and cleaning my house. As the weeks went by and I sent my Tuesday mornings hello, Susan suggested we put them on Facebook and the church website and call them “Marilyn’s Musings”. And that is how this all started 5 years ago. I really don’t know how many people are still reading them as the world has become it’s “new normal” and everyone is back to their busy lives. But…here I am-still “musing” and still sharing my life with you and my faith journey that started that one Tuesday morning when I missed the Thrift Shoppe Ladies and wanted to say “hi”.
Sometimes I shared inspirational sayings at the end of my musings and I found this one I shared with you on April 21, 2020 written by Martin Luther. We were still in lockdown and couldn’t worship together. I wanted to share something to make everyone smile. During Lent I feel this is perfect for today as it was back then – “Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime”.
Let’s sing “Living for Jesus a Life That Is True”
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=pzrNMoCJhyI&si=QBX2yOQcc4LPSKLT
Preview YouTube video Living for Jesus - Marjolein van Hoef
