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St. Patrick Patrick was a fi fth-century mis-


It was a logical place to start. But


look closely at a carved Celtic cross and you will notice that the circle is thinner than the cross. T is is not a sun with a cross in the middle. T is is a cross that stands at the center of creation.


Christ redeems creation T e message? T e world that ebbs and fl ows, the light that comes and goes, and all the things that intrigue us and worry us about life—all of these are brought together in Jesus. T e cross of Christ doesn’t replace your interest in creation. T rough the cross, Christ has redeemed cre- ation and everything in it. Celtic Christianity didn’t try to


beat the paganism out of the Irish. It did try to put their traditional concerns in a diff erent light. T e created world, so important to the Celts before they encountered Jesus, remained important. But here was something new to transform their concern for the world: emphasizing that the God who made the world has come to us in Jesus. We now live in a world that is


once again intensely concerned with issues of the sun and creation and becoming more “green.” T e ELCA; our global, ecumenical and interfaith partners; and our secular neighbors are discussing climate change and global warming, con- cerns about genetically modifi ed organisms, the impact of pesticides, the strain of population growth and more. Learning from ancient ways that


connect Jesus to the concerns of the world we live in can provide valu- able insight and a vehicle for sharing the gospel in our own time. T e Celts and other indigenous people have much to teach us in this area. A wide variety of spiritual practices can enhance how alert we are to


God at work in the world around us. T e power of God is revealed


to us in the cross of Jesus. But St. Patrick’s cross reminds us that Jesus didn’t just come to save individu- als but to redeem creation. For ecumenical Lutherans, this insight alone is worth the eff ort to pursue. In a Lutheran church off ering


Christ-centered understandings of God, exploring the Celtic empha- sis on creation’s importance is a wonderful way to enrich the door- ways through which we enter into meaningful conversations with our culture today. And you thought that all St. Pat-


rick had to off er us today was green beer. 


To read “ ‘Green’ spiritual practices,” fi nd this article at www.thelutheran.org/feature/ march.


sionary and later bishop in Ireland. Captured as a teenager from his home in Britain, he was enslaved in Ireland for six years before he escaped. His death date, believed to be March 17, 461, is com- memorated as St. Patrick’s Day inside and outside Ireland, though he was never offi cially canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. St. Patrick’s Day is also


included on the calendar of commemorations in Evangelical Lutheran Worship.


Author bio: Daubert is pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Elgin, Ill., and is a managing partner of Day 8 Strate- gies, where he trains church leaders about renewing congregations.


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March 2014 37


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