a pint for the Irish.

In honor of St. Patricks Day, I am wearing all the green I own (a track jacket and shirt- dont' worry I don't have green pants). This holiday is one of those strange days where everybody thinks that they are Irish (even if they are not) and every once in a while you will here about why St. Patrick was so special. It also makes me want a pint of Guinness.

St. Patrick wasn't the only Irish Saint, there was also this guy, Arthur Guinness. In the mid 1700's, Arthur would walk the streets of Dublin, lamenting at the drunkeness of the Irish people (apparently this stereotype didn't end there). They would be stumbling out of their whisky and gin bars and do all the things that drunk people do. In Arthur's prayers, he felt led to do something that (little did he know) would forever change Ireland and it's people. He felt that he was to make a healthy drink, that people would like, but not get drunk on. His creation was Guinness Beer. The beauty of what Arthur Guinness did was not to create a well crafted beverage, but rather he sought a way to influence a culture (and the world) for more right living, and hopefully, to be able to point them to Christ. His life reflected his faith.

Apparently he passed this faith lifestyle on to his children who were involved in sending Hudson Taylor to China, building a missionary college, and helping to fund a Chrisitan Childrens home. The story can be found at http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/4752.htm.

So today, as we celebrate the Irish (and what God has done in Ireland), let us raise a pint in thanks to God, and seek ways that we can influence the culture of the Lehigh Valley.