Hello God. It's me, Mara

You know, Lord, May Day is a public holiday that’s usually celebrated the first day of May. It’s an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival — that’s what we learned when we were kids in school. Back then dances, singing and cake were a fun part of the festivities. How enjoyable and entertaining. In our school we all “danced” around the Maypole. We especially liked the singing while we were running around a Maypole. Cake and punch followed, and that was fun, too.

An interesting side note: The Mayday callsign was originated in 1923 by Frederick Stanley Mockford. Mayday is also an emergency code word used internationally as a distress signal in voice procedure radio communications, derived from the French m’aider of the reflexive verb “help me.” The call is always given three times in a row (“Mayday Mayday Mayday”) to prevent mistaking it for some similar-sounding phrase under noisy conditions.

Later on in life, we discovered the hanging of baskets of fresh flowers on the doorknobs of our neighbors’ houses. Baskets of flowers were often given out in the older May Day celebrations and could also include a small gift. That is an act of love, for sure! However — this must be done without being seen! If caught, your neighbor can apparently claim a kiss! That was and interesting point to learn about when we were the recipient of a gift of flowers. But the one placing flowers on our doorknob was way too fast to ever be caught! Those kids have how grown, married and moved on. Hopefully, someone special in their neighborhood does the same loving and thoughtful thing of hanging flowers on their doorknobs.

We read in Your Word, Lord, in 1 John 4:7: “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.”

Love, Mara