{"id":2072,"date":"2016-03-17T10:20:59","date_gmt":"2016-03-17T15:20:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/?p=2072"},"modified":"2021-01-29T15:13:14","modified_gmt":"2021-01-29T20:13:14","slug":"celtic-spirituality-st-patricks-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/celtic-spirituality-st-patricks-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Leprechauns and Blessings"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

(Updated 03\/17\/17)<\/em><\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t sure what we would do this St. Patrick\u2019s Day since the leprechauns told us they won\u2019t be coming back.<\/p>\n

Each year for the past several years on March 17, while our kids were in school, the leprechauns would come to our house and devise an elaborate scavenger hunt for the children. Rhymed clues, written in an unrecognizable hand remarkably similar to the Tooth Fairy\u2019s and Santa Claus\u2019s, led the children from room to room until at the end they discovered a pile of cheap St. Patrick\u2019s Day paraphernalia\u2014a shamrock t-shirt, a \u201cKiss Me I\u2019m Irish\u201d button, a pot of \u201cgold\u201d filled with yellow M&M\u2019s.<\/p>\n

I delighted in watching the hunt\u2014the excitement, the stampede from one clue to the next, the way children love anything from Dollar General. The Mommy Leprechaun, whose job is was to compose the rhymes and buy the clues felt less thrilled.\u00a0So after four years of fun, the leprechauns last year left one final note saying they won\u2019t be back.<\/p>\n

So two weeks ago I began wondering, what will happen this year?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when a new book written by Beth Richardson, an acquaintance of mine, landed on my desk: Christ Beside Me, Christ Within Me. <\/em>I think the leprechauns brought it, knowing I would need help.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been interested in Celtic spirituality<\/a> for some time. Three years ago I attended a retreat on Celtic spirituality at which Beth was the worship leader. As soon as I heard her read \u201cA Blessing for a Cup of Coffee\u201d I knew we were kindred spirits.<\/p>\n

Now on my desk sits her book which includes this and other blessings inspired by the Celtic tradition, blessings that can tutor me in what I want most of all: to see and receive this moment\u2014each moment\u2014as holy, saturated with the love and mercy of the Triune God.<\/p>\n

This moment holding a cup of coffee. This moment walking the dog (she has a blessing for that). This moment holding a newborn. This moment, and this one. Each one a sacrament.<\/p>\n

Even this moment grading papers? Yes. Beth didn\u2019t write a blessing for that, but I was inspired to write my own.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m allowing Beth to become a mentor for me, and if for me, why not for my children on St. Patrick\u2019s day? Because I want nothing more for them as well than to experience this Celtic clarity about God\u2019s presence here and now.<\/p>\n

And this Celtic honesty. These blessings don\u2019t avoid pain.\u00a0 \u201cSome days are very hard,\u201d one begins, and can\u2019t we all\u2014children and adults\u2014learn better how to straightforwardly name what we are going through? \u201cMay you know that you are loved, \/ You are held, \/ You are not alone,\u201d it continues. And I think of my older son\u2019s inevitable middle-school hard days, and I nod. Yes. Learn this<\/em>.<\/p>\n

So this St. Patrick\u2019s Day will be a day of blessing.\u00a0 My wife and I will say with our kids \u201cA Blessing for Breakfast,\u201d and slip the blessing \u201cAt the Midday\u201d in their lunchboxes. In the evening we\u2019ll read \u201cWalking the Dog\u201d as they do their least favorite chore, and later the blessing \u201cNight\u201d before heading to bed. For I can think of no better way to end the day with them than with these words:<\/p>\n

Bless this house, this pillow, this bed.
\nMay I lie down in your peace and love,
\nAnd awake again to be your hands and heart in the world.
\nI am yours, God of love.
\nBless this night.<\/p>\n

But I will have to write my own blessing \u201cFor the Yellow M&Ms\u201d, because we are<\/em> going to have those again, leprechauns or not.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Rev. Dr. L. Roger Owens is\u00a0associate professor of Christian spirituality and ministry at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and teaches courses in the MDiv, Doctor of Ministry, and Continuing Education programs. Before coming to PTS he served urban and rural churches for eight years in North Carolina as co-pastor with his wife Ginger. He has written multiple books including <\/em>The Shape of Participation: A Theology of Church Practices which was called \u201cthis decades best work in ecclesiology\u201d by <\/em>The Christian Century and his latest <\/em>What We Need Is Here: Practicing the Heart of Christian Spirituality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  (Updated 03\/17\/17) I wasn\u2019t sure what we would do this St. Patrick\u2019s Day since the leprechauns told us they won\u2019t be coming back. Each year for the past several years on March 17, while our kids were in school, the leprechauns would come to our house and devise an elaborate scavenger hunt for the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2073,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[241,240,53,242,97],"series":[],"class_list":["post-2072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-protestant-spirituality","tag-a-blessing-for-a-cup-of-coffee","tag-beth-richardson","tag-celtic-spirituality","tag-christ-beside-me-christ-within-me","tag-st-patricks-day"],"yoast_head":"\r\nLeprechauns and Blessings - 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