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Although I often wear green on St. Patrick’s day, I’ve never cared much for observing traditions associated with the holiday. I let my co-workers go by themselves to the Irish Pub. I’ve never tasted Corned Beef and Cabbage.

What is Corned beef anyway? Culinary Arts’ About.com says Corned beef is a preparation in which a cut of beef, usually the brisket, is cured in a brine solution along with various seasonings, and then slowly simmered until cooked. The brine for making corned beef is similar to the brine used for making pickles. Thus, it’s fair to say that corned beef is essentially pickled beef. One of the key ingredients in making corned beef is a curing salt called prague powder, which is what gives the corned beef its distinctive pink color.

I never liked the childhood tradition on St. Patrick’s Day, either, of pinching everyone who doesn’t wear green to celebrate the day. Yet, I have a strong streak of Irish blood in me, and I like green as a color. It might be the most beautiful in my wallet or bank account.

Although writing is a ministry, it’s a blessing to be paid for your work. Nevertheless, most free lance writers don’t make much money. I learned in my youth if you want a guarantee you’ll be paid, get a job writing or editing. Success has little to do with the “luck of the Irish.”

I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to say I work almost as hard in my retirement as a free lance writer as I did as a newspaper reporter. The big difference is I don’t have to come up with one to four stories a day that have significance. I’m a big idea person and always found news to write about as a journalist, but in my retirement I have nightmares that I’m back in the newsroom and I can’t produce one story. A reporter earns his paycheck by helping to fill the “news hole” left after the advertising is set.

According to a report in USA Today, the top-earning author writes erotica and earns $95 million annually. That’s a lot of green! Most Christian authors would love to spread the gospel to the masses, and only a few accomplish that.

The Psalmist Asaph, a musician and writer, in Psalm 73 says “my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the boastful, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked… When I thought to understand this, it was too painful for me—Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood their end. You have set them in slippery places…(Psalm 73:2-3, 16-18).

Asaph finally realized there are greater things than the green of wealth. God’s reward to the obedient: “You shall therefore keep his statues, and his commandments, which I command you this day, that it may go well with you, and your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land, which the Lord your God gives you for all time” (Deuteronomy 4:40).

At the end of his ranting, Asaph wrote, “Who do I have in heaven but you? There is none upon earth that I desire besides you.”

I ‘m with Asaph. I’d rather have the Lord’s blessings than the greenbacks of the wicked any day.