The Meaning Behind the Shamrock

As I'm sure you already know, today is St. Patrick's Day. If you didn't know before getting dressed this morning, I'm sure you figured it out quickly as countless people began pinching you because of the lack of green in your attire. Although I'm not sure how anyone could have forgotten it this year. The stores were packed with St. Patrick's Day decorations, clothes, gifts, etc. Naturally, I've seen a lot of shamrocks in the past few weeks. It wasn't until recently, however, that I understood the relation between the shamrock and St. Patrick's Day.

Until a recent revelation, when I thought of shamrocks, honestly, I thought of Lucky Charms. You know the cereal with pink hearts, orange stars, yellow moons, green clovers, blue diamonds, and purple horseshoes? I guess in many ways I'm still a kid at heart, but I was thrilled to recently learn the true meaning behind the shamrock and its relation to St. Patrick's Day.

St. Patrick was actually from Scotland, but he was captured at an early age and sent to Ireland as a slave. During his captivity, he got saved. Once he was freed, he went back to his home in Scotland, but the people of Ireland seemed to call to him. He finished his seminary training and returned to Ireland as a missionary.

At that time, Ireland was filled with various Druids and pagans. As much as he tried, St. Patrick found it difficult to explain God to such people. Knowing their love and worship of nature, St. Patrick decided to use that very thing to help get his message across. He used the shamrock to explain to the pagans and Druids about the trinity. With it, he symbolized how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit can be separate but also part of the same entity. His teaching was effective, and many were led to the Lord.

Cool story, huh? It just goes to remind us that God can use anybody or anything, anywhere and anytime.