Can we celebrate that?

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Today is St. Patrick's Day. Because it is so close to Ethan's birthday I made green shamrock cookies for the boys to take to school. Hubby and I showed up for snack time when they were breaking out the cookies. In response to a question from a student in Ethan's class one of the helpers in the room said, "Those are shamrocks! Today is St. Partick's day." The she turned to one of the other helpers in the classroom and asked, "Are we allowed to celebrate that?" All of the adults in the room laughed and the kids kept eating. But I did over hear a quiet discussion about whether or not St. Patrick's Day is allowed to be celebrated in my city's schools.

I can't really say that I was surprised that she stopped to ask the question or that others actually had a discussion about whether or not St. Patrick's Day was an allowed holiday. Everyone realised how absurd it was that she would have to ask the question. But we all knew that somewhere out there there was someone who would think that the truthful answer to that child's question was inappropriate.

I've been wondering for about a week now what people would think if they realised that the ubiquitous shamrock that most associate with the Irish is the symbol that St. Patrick used to explain the trinity to the Irish pagans? And I'm not sure what to make of all of the heathens carousing at St. Patrick's Day festivities while wearing a symbol of the triune God-head.

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