It's not easy being orange.

As someone who both enjoys a good celebration and happens to be Irish, I always participate in St. Patrick’s day. The most visible way I participated yesterday was by wearing a bright green Cardinal’s jersey, but with an also-visible orange T-shirt underneath.

Over the course of the day I found myself explaining this to people, the vast majority of whom had no idea what the green really represents. Originally standing for Irish nationalism, the more common association of green is for the Catholics. In contrast, the orange represents the Protestants. As most people don’t know, this is why the Irish flag places each color on the outside with a white stripe of peace uniting them.

Now, since I’m a Protestant, I should really wear orange, not green. But if I did that, I would be almost defiantly stating my differentness (and the superiority of my obscure knowledge). Instead, since the culture embraces green, I dress as I do so I can honor what I know the colors mean and yet still bless people with a little new information rather than poke them in the eye with it.