Keller @ Large: What St. Patrick's Day Stands For
BOSTON (CBS) - Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone. It's a great day here in Boston, but sometimes you wonder how many celebrants really know what the day is all about.
This has been an official feast day celebrated by several religions for more than four centuries. It commemorates the missionary work of a fifth century Christian slave who escaped from bondage and became a priest, returning to Ireland to convert pagans to Christianity - a process that became known as "driving out the snakes."
The celebration of Patrick's death on March 17 has become a touchstone of Irish culture throughout the world, and is actually a bigger deal here than it is in Ireland itself. But let's be honest, for many Americans St. Patrick's Day is an excuse for drinking, which itself dates back to an old tradition of lifting Lenten prohibitions on drinking for the day.
If you choose to drink today, obviously do so safely. And while you're showing respect for yourself and others by being safe, show some respect for what Irish-Americans and their culture have meant to our city and our country.
When out-of-towners ask me what it means to live in America's most Irish city, I tell them it means you live among warm, smart people who love the good things in life -- food, drink, the arts, and politics, not necessarily in that order. And in their love for life they represent the best of what America has to offer.
So, happy St. Patrick's Day to all. May the road rise to meet you, and may the wind be always at your back.
