Get rid of all bitterness, rage and
anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be
kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ
God forgave you.
(Ephesians 4:31-32)
Yesterday was Saint Patrick’s Day, when everyone becomes Irish for a day. Do you know that St. Patrick wasn’t Irish? He was a Roman Briton who was enslaved by the Irish. He escaped slavery, returned to Britain, and became a cleric. He claimed that he saw a vision:
Yesterday was Saint Patrick’s Day, when everyone becomes Irish for a day. Do you know that St. Patrick wasn’t Irish? He was a Roman Briton who was enslaved by the Irish. He escaped slavery, returned to Britain, and became a cleric. He claimed that he saw a vision:
I saw a man coming, as it were from Ireland. His name was
Victoricus, and he carried many letters, and he gave me one of them. I read the
heading: "The Voice of the Irish". As I began the letter, I imagined
in that moment that I heard the voice of those very people who were near the
wood of Foclut,
which is beside the western sea—and they cried out, as with one voice: "We
appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk among us.”
He had no reason
to like the Irish, and I can’t imagine he found it easy to love them when he
went back. They didn’t welcome him back with open arms. In fact, at least some
of the Irish saw him as addlepated. He was beaten and robbed more than once. The
Irish of his day would have considered it an insult to associate them with him.
To do what he believed he was called to do as a Christian, he had to get rid if all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. He had to be kind and compassionate to them, forgiving them just as in Christ, God had forgiven him.
The centuries were not kind to the Irish. The Brits were brutal. Those who left Ireland to come to America were likely to come as indentured servants and were mistreated. There’s a reason Irish music is either melancholy or frenetic. There’s a reason we associate anger and red hair. There’s a reason they were angry. There is a long time in which the idea of being Irish, even for a day, would have been an insult.
I have spoken to members of other heritage-groups who believe they have a legitimate grudge against some other portion of society. I have been told that it is necessary that the other portion of society reach out, make amends, apologize, etc. Only once the heritage group has been mollified, only once they’ve been given recompense for the wrong done to them can they consider putting aside their own anger. I think it better to follow the example of St. Patrick.
Have I? Some would say I haven’t because I live among “my own kind.” I live where I’m accepted. I don’t live among people who have abused me. They assume that I’ve never had to struggle with hatred. I grew up a conservative, white collar Protestant in a liberal, blue collar, Catholic neighborhood. I grew up an introvert in an extroverted society. Cutting the story short, I grew up as a misfit in every way that mattered to me. I’ve been kicked out of organizations where I thought I belonged. I grew up wanting to be a Vulcan…wanting to be just about anything that was not Human. I haven’t had to overcome a hatred of this social group or that cultural subgroup. I have had to overcome a hatred of Humanity as a whole.
But here’s the other side of it. Patrick didn’t love the Irish by being absorbed into their culture. They ended up absorbing his culture into their identity instead. That’s the direction I feel led. That’s the direction I believe Scripture teaches.
To do what he believed he was called to do as a Christian, he had to get rid if all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. He had to be kind and compassionate to them, forgiving them just as in Christ, God had forgiven him.
The centuries were not kind to the Irish. The Brits were brutal. Those who left Ireland to come to America were likely to come as indentured servants and were mistreated. There’s a reason Irish music is either melancholy or frenetic. There’s a reason we associate anger and red hair. There’s a reason they were angry. There is a long time in which the idea of being Irish, even for a day, would have been an insult.
I have spoken to members of other heritage-groups who believe they have a legitimate grudge against some other portion of society. I have been told that it is necessary that the other portion of society reach out, make amends, apologize, etc. Only once the heritage group has been mollified, only once they’ve been given recompense for the wrong done to them can they consider putting aside their own anger. I think it better to follow the example of St. Patrick.
Have I? Some would say I haven’t because I live among “my own kind.” I live where I’m accepted. I don’t live among people who have abused me. They assume that I’ve never had to struggle with hatred. I grew up a conservative, white collar Protestant in a liberal, blue collar, Catholic neighborhood. I grew up an introvert in an extroverted society. Cutting the story short, I grew up as a misfit in every way that mattered to me. I’ve been kicked out of organizations where I thought I belonged. I grew up wanting to be a Vulcan…wanting to be just about anything that was not Human. I haven’t had to overcome a hatred of this social group or that cultural subgroup. I have had to overcome a hatred of Humanity as a whole.
But here’s the other side of it. Patrick didn’t love the Irish by being absorbed into their culture. They ended up absorbing his culture into their identity instead. That’s the direction I feel led. That’s the direction I believe Scripture teaches.
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