Top of the Morning: Saints, Stories, and a Journey Through Ireland

Top of the morning. 🍀

There’s a line in the invocation used in my spiritual community that I’ve always loved. It comes at the very end, almost as a quiet widening of the circle:

“…and saints and sages of all traditions, we bow to thee.”

That one line says a lot.

The lives of saints offer powerful windows into self-realization — not because they were perfect, but because they learned how to listen, how to trust, and how to stay connected to the Divine through very human lives.

As a child, under ten, I loved a series of small booklets about Catholic saints. What stayed with me were the stories themselves — devotion, courage, and people learning how to live close to something greater than themselves.

Over time, that curiosity widened.

I now find myself drawn to saints and sages from many traditions — Christian mystics, Celtic figures, Hindu saints, Buddhist teachers.

What interests me most is not doctrine, but how each one embodied their faith in daily life, and how their stories continue to teach across cultures and centuries.

That brings me to St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland.

He was not Irish by birth. Born in Britain, he was brought to Ireland as a teenager against his will and enslaved as a shepherd. During those years of isolation, his spiritual life deepened. After escaping and returning home, he later chose to return to Ireland — not out of obligation, but out of devotion.

St. Patrick is remembered for bringing Christianity to Ireland and for helping shape its spiritual life through teaching, community, and service.

His influence endured, not because he conquered or converted by force, but because he worked within the culture, the land, and the people he came to love.

For me, that makes him more than a symbol or a celebration — a life lived in quiet relationship with the Divine.

On St. Patrick’s Day, it feels fitting to share a journey through Ireland — in video form.

Years ago, I believed I was guided toward this land of some of my ancestors for what I thought would be a two-month, hermitage-like solo retreat. Turns out I didn’t interpret that guidance correctly. Oops. This time of retreat was not only meant for me but for the world, and as COVID arrived, my plans fell through.

Two years later, I did make it to Ireland, but only for part of the original plan. I took the bus tour I had already paid for — otherwise, I would have lost the money. The rest of the journey did not happen.

This video stitches together those moments: short clips I made for social media while traveling, gathered into one long, lighthearted travel reel.

It’s a longer video — just over two hours — so feel free to dip in, wander, and leave whenever you like. Not a work of art. Just a fun way to move through Ireland for a while.

On St. Patrick’s Day, sharing it again feels like a simple way to travel together.