We Lived Elsewhere Once

On this day of all days in the Irish-American calendar, when ethnic pride swells, let’s raise a toast: Here’s to the Irish, and here’s to the rest of us. May we never forget where we came from… We are all people who have lost our land in one sad way and found another. Whether we lament and celebrate in a pub or cantina, whether our tricolor flag has a cactus on it or not, we are closer to one another than we remember.
—“San Patrico,” editorial in The New York Times, March 17, 2010

Whether we were kicked out or left home on our own, we identify with the wanderer, the ex-patriot, the exile, the rogue. Our movies and novels, folktales and songs, often speak to the wanderlust in us. We all came from somewhere, and that somewhere is rarely where we find ourselves now, except in those emotional moments of discovery when we realize we can never really go home.

We’re spiritually displaced, too. The childhood certainties no longer hold. Our image of God heats, cools, and is tempered by experience. Sometimes it shatters, sometimes grows strong. Just as we no longer speak Gaelic or German, Swahili or Urdu, at least not fluently as our ancestors did, we also don’t speak Presbyterian or Methodist or Catholic or even that newer language of Disciples of Christ very well.

On St. Patrick’s Day, we celebrate our memory of having lived elsewhere once upon a time. We recognize—and sometimes lament—the path we’ve taken. But the biblical witness is strong and clear: God leads exiles and wilderness wanderers to new lands, new relationships, new understandings and knowledge. God is with us now as God was with us then.

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Along the Way, I wish you God’s peace on today’s stage of your Lenten spiritual journey. May Christ’s companionship bless you with confidence for the day, comfort you in trouble, and put a spring of joy in your step.