Mayday spoken three times is the well known emergency signal, first used in the 1920s by air pilots, sounding like ‘help me’ in French.
May Day on the first of this month, in contrast, evokes dawn choruses of song birds, a chapel choir greeting the sun’s rise, apple blossom and the anticipation of summer.
When seeking illumination on the roadmap through the pandemic I have both MayDays in mind.
Humbled by new unfamiliar fragility from the isolation and travel restriction of lockdown I have learned to pray mayday as my own certainties and resourcefulness became inadequate.
Amazed at the turn of the earth for warmer days I have been more attentive to what is given and life-giving as May heralds creation and creativity. This year will it also be marked by pared-down priorities for wiser and more considerate living?
As people regain confidence in meeting face to face I trust that all will go forward in greater appreciation of others, using scarce resources of energy, economy and enterprise for the common good,
My childhood May Days pictured a Red Square parade of Cold War tanks and missiles. Today our fellow human beings from India to Brazil are crying mayday in the absence of medical help against COVID 19.
This month and next, leaders of powerful nations are meeting to consider global policies. Christians at the same time are journeying from the resurrection of Easter to the transformation of Pentecost. Let us pray in the power of the Holy Spirit that Presidents, Prime Ministers and Chancellors receive and use the virtues of generosity in sharing healthcare, justice when establishing trade and peacemaking over contested territory.
