May Day is a springtime celebration of life and beauty with origins reaching back into ancient days, when the Romans celebrated a Festival of Flora, the goddess of flowers, on May 1, when the beauty of flowers decorate the world again.
Mayday is a radio distress call used by pilots, boat captains and others in emergency situations when they need help. And 2020 will be remembered as a year when on May Day the world still called out mayday.
The world really is filled with beauty. The flowers are in bloom. And while there is great beauty to be enjoyed, there is also a sense of fear, confusion, anxiety, grief, and so much more all around us. It’s a truly beautiful world, also held in the grip of a pandemic, and brokenness.
Actually, the world has always been both beautiful and beguiled, well, at least since the fall from God’s grace in the Garden of Eden.
God Himself is indeed the source of all the beauty we see in the world around us. And sinful mankind is the source of the brokenness we endure. But the God, the Giver of Life itself, He never left us alone, lost to the brokenness we suffer. Instead, He came walking in the Garden to call His people back into His presence.
He blessed them, provided for them, and He gave them the great promise that a redeemer would come, restoration to His grace and His family would be His gift to us. And He fulfilled that promise through Christ our Savior.
Jesus came in mortal flesh and blood to live the life of perfection in the midst of this broken world. He endured great suffering and even death itself in sacrifice for us so we would be forgiven, redeemed and restored. And on that first Easter morning he rose up victorious over even death itself. This gift of new life is yours right now because of His great grace. And He still calls us to return to Him again.
One of the greatest images of Easter is the beautiful lily. With springtime flowers God still reminds us that new life will come and life is beautiful indeed.
Even in the midst of this season of fear, anxiety, and grief, great beauty is found all around us. God makes life beautiful indeed.
Join us at Hosanna, online, and soon again in person, to hear more about this great gift of beautiful life.
Find more at hosanna-lcms.com. Hosanna Lutheran Church is located at 9601 E. Brown Road in Mesa.