Why do we wear green today?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

When Brent came home for lunch today we asked if everyone (that he works with) was wearing green. The answer was "yes" much to our amazement. "Do they know why they are doing that?" I asked. Probably not, was his reply. Here's an excerpt of a write-up of St. Patrick's life from www.catholic.org for those who want to know:

St. Patrick
(415?-493?)

Legends about Patrick abound; but truth is best served by our seeing two solid qualities in him: He was humble and he was courageous. The determination to accept suffering and success with equal indifference guided the life of God’s instrument for winning most of Ireland for Christ.

"The determination to accept suffering and success with equal indifference..."
That is a wonderful testimony to Patrick and a great reminder to me. I have to say that recently my acceptance of suffering has pretty much been with the hope of it paying off for my future health. To think about accepting suffering in the same way I would accept success is to totally let go of what I deem worthwhile in this life that I'm living and to have complete faith that both suffering and success are equally worthy qualities of livelihood.

I must say that I have caught myself during this prolonged illness with times of discontentment. I've had times when I've thought, "I want my life back." But God's Word has made it clear to me that THIS IS LIFE. I'm living exactly as God has ordained. My life isn't on hold. Our suffering through illness is just as much living as our success we experienced as we homeschooled. May Christ be glorified in it all.

Christ shield me this day:
Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every person who thinks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me

Saint Patrick, from his breastplate