Happy St Patrick's Day 2014 from Tina's Prayer Gate

Leprechauns, castles, good luck and laughter
Lullabies, dreams, and love ever after.
Poems and songs with pipes and drums
A thousand welcomes when anyone comes.
That's the Irish for you!

May you have:
A world of wishes at your command
God and his angels close at hand
Friends and family their love impart,
And Irish blessings in you heart.
"An Irish Blessing"

An Old Irish Prayer

Give us, Lord, a bit o sun
A bit o work and a bit o fun
Give us in all the struggle and sputter
Our daily bread and a bit o butter
Give us health our keep to make
And a bit to spare for other's sake
Give us, too, a bit of song
And a tale and a book to help us along
Give us, Lord, a chance to be
Our goodly best, brave, wise and free------
Our goodly best for ourselves and others
Till all men learn to live as brothers

An Irishman's Philosophy:

There are only two things to worry about:
Either you are well or you are sick.
If you are well, then there is nothing to worry about.

But if you are sick, there are two things to worry about:
Either you will get well or you will die.
If you get well, then there is nothing to worry about.

But if you die, there are two things to worry about:
Either you will go to heaven or you will go to hell.
If you go to heaven, then you have nothing to worry about.

But if you go to hell, you'll be so busy shaking hands
with all your friends, then you won't have time to worry!

The Irish!

What shall I say about the Irish?
The utterly impractical, never predictable,
Something irascible, quite inexplicable, Irish.

Strange blend of shyness, pride and conceit
And stubborn refusal to bow in defeat.
He's spoiling and ready to argue and fight,
Yet the smile of a child fills his soul with delight.

His eyes are the quickest to well up in tears,
Yet his strength is the strongest to banish your fears.

His faith is as fierce as his devotion is grand
And there's no middle ground on which he will stand.

He's wild and he's gentle, he's good and he's bad,
He's proud and he's humble, he's happy and sad.

He's in love with the ocean, the earth and the skies,
He's enamored with beauty wherever it lies.

He's victor and victim, a star and a clod,
But mostly he's Irish and in love with his God.

'Happy St. Patricks Day'

St. Patrick, pray for us