Whoever "they" are, they say that everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's Day, the March 17th day that we recognize the patron saint of Ireland. But, I actually am Irish...a way back, but my name attests my genes. Since I didn't grow up in a religion that recognizes saints, I decided that I'd learn a bit about St. Patrick today. So, I turned to my fast friend Google to help me figure this out.
First of all, our patron saint wasn't even Irish, and he was not even religious until he was kidnapped as a young adult. Well! At least, he did bring Christianity to most of Ireland in the fifth century, but as far as I can tell he didn't have anything to do with green beer.
I think I was happier not knowing; at least, then I could make up something more glamorous.
How much of life is perception: we make up something good or bad about a person, based on a miniscule impression. Then we go merrily along thinking just because we made it up, it must be true. Before long, we actually begin to believe our make-believe story is true.
Last week a colleague said to me, quite seriously, "You're not a bad person." Well, really?! I'm glad she figured it out, but where did that come from? She really acted shocked.
So, St. Patrick wasn't Irish or religious early on, and I'm not a bad person. I wonder what else out there each of us could discover isn't really true.
No comments:
Post a Comment