Happy St Patrick's Day

The Legend Of The Shamrock

I'll seek a four-leaved shamrock in all the fairy dells,
And if I find the charmed laves, oh, how I'll weave my spells!
I would not waste my magic might on diamond, pearl, or gold,
For treasure tires the weary sense, such triumph is but cold;
But I would play the enchanter's part, in casting bliss around --
Oh! not a tear, nor aching heart, should in the world be found!
To worth I would give honor! -- I'd dry the mourner's tears,
And to the pallid lip recall the smile of happier years,
And hearts that had been long estranged, and friends that had grown cold,
Should meet again - like parted streams - and mingle as of old;
Oh! thus I'd play the enchanter's part, thus scatter bliss around,
And not a tear, nor aching heart, should in the world be found!
The heart that had been mourning o'er vanish'd dreams of love,
Should see them all returning - like Noah's faithful dove,
And Hope should launch her bless'd bark on Sorrow's darkening sea,
And Misery's children have an ark, and saved from sinking be;
Oh! thus I'd play the enchanter's part, thus scatter bliss around,
And not a tear, nor aching heart, should in the world be found!

--Samuel Lover

It's A Fine Day (somewhere)

I woke up on this St Patrick's Day to news that four teenagers from my town had been killed by a drunken driver. Our town is not so large that a tragedy of this kind will fade quickly from memory. I pray for the families so terribly affected by this outrage.

It's fair here today. The house windows are opened, and the furnace has been put to nap. My companions rest in sleep as the sun shines on their relaxed bodies. I know they'll soon want to go out into the fair day and play a bit in the yard.

My neighbors across the way have been caring for a disabled adult child for as long as we've known them. Recently, there has been an increase of activity in and out of their home. Nurses in white, nurses in blue, paramedics aboard a city fire engine; and private ambulances stop for short, and intermittent times almost on a daily basis. It's so easy to read the signs of a very hard circumstance.

Our dear neighbor on the other side of our fenceline, has been assalted by consequential maladies making her infirm. When we speak, I'm angered that her doctors can't seem to find the right treatment to make her whole again. She needs an advocate walking by her side. All I can do is pray for her.

I find it amazing, as I age, that I've taken back and embraced this tenet of Faith given to me in my youth: prayer.