This week we celebrated Saint Patrick’s Day with shamrocks, corned beef, and leprechaun decorations. But who was Saint Patrick? I asked my oldest daughter about Saint Patrick’s Day and all she could think of was wearing green and leprechauns.
Saint Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland and originally was a missionary monk who, according to legend, brought Christianity to Ireland. Prior to this the Celtic people, who made up most of the inhabitants of Ireland, subscribed to what can be termed heathen or pagan religious beliefs.
Probably the most famous Saint Patrick story is how he drove all the snakes out of Ireland. According to the legend the island was plagued by poisonous snakes and somehow Saint Patrick drove them off the Emerald Isle thus cementing him in the hearts of the inhabitants and winning many converts. Irish immigrants to the United States have kept Saint Patrick alive with a day to annually honor him and all things Irish.
Much of what we know about Saint Patrick is the result of oral legends passed down through time and I’m certain that overtime certain embellishments have been added to his life’s story. In spite of the possible changes to the tales, I have wondered if the story of driving the poisonous snakes out of Ireland was not symbolic of the conversion process of the people from paganism to Christianity. Perhaps the snakes were the sins, bad habits, and false traditions of the people, venomous vipers of the natural man that were driven out with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Each of us struggles with certain snakes in our own lives. The decision to become more Christ-like, to be converted, and begin anew on the path to eternal life requires us to make changes that drive out the snakes that poison our souls. As we drive the various sins, bad habits, tendencies, thoughts, and beliefs out of our life and replace them with the Savior Jesus Christ, we experience the healing power of repentance. The balm of the Savior’s atonement heals the wounds and venomous damage caused by sin, guilt, and grief.
Driving the snakes out of our lives cannot be a one time event. I have seen too many people over the years experience a mighty change of heart, lay hold upon the rod, and begin to walk along the path to the tree of life only to let go and wander back into the mists of darkness. They mistakenly believed that their conversion marked the end destination instead of the beginning of a journey to return to our Heavenly Father.
So this Saint Patrick’s Day, let us each re-examine our lives and determine to drive the remaining snakes from our lives. Let us become more determined than ever to cast off the venomous vipers that keep us from becoming more like the Savior. And let us always remember that only through Jesus Christ can we find the healing power of the atonement that changes lives and lifts the broken spirit.
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Never thought of it that way -- that the legend of St. Patrick driving snakes out may be symbolic of the people's conversion to the greater light of Christ the people experienced. Makes sense though!
And driving the snakes out of our lives indeed is not the destination, but the first step. We have to be alert and on guard for the snakes and vipers coming back into our lives. Did not Alma ask the people in his day if they could remember the time they wished to sing the song of redeeming love, and did they feel that way now -- with the followup rhetorical questions to instruct them how to regain that state?
It is indeed a glorious feeling to be free of the snakes in our lives and to no longer have the desire to sin as we let the power of The Savior's Atonement heal us! But we can't rest on the comfort of the moment, or we will lose that desire.
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