Here we are in early May, halfway between Spring and Summer. Some of us as children

celebrated May Day by making little baskets of flowers, leaving them on the doorstep of friends after

ringing the doorbell. Fun! May Day has been celebrated for centuries, often spread along the reach of

the Roman Empire in un-Christianized lands. So… this is a pagan holiday? Yep.

Sometimes people wonder if it’s okay, even innocently, to enjoy holidays which have origins

with outside-of-Christianity practices. That could be Christmas, Easter, Independence Day, New Year’s

Day, birthdays, anniversaries; pretty much everything except the New Testament communion/eucharist.

Way back, early Israelite culture had many celebrations through the year for a variety of purposes

mostly having to do with agriculture (it was an agrarian society) and cleansing the community of sin.

Thousands of years later, here we are. How do we celebrate the happy times of life while

remaining true to the Jesus Way? There are guidelines in the Bible, such as: “whatever things are true,

whatever things are honest, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are

lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on

these things.” This was written to a church group in the town of Philippi (Greece) – a bunch of good folks

in a pagan culture just trying to understand how to do it!

Paul, the apostle of Jesus could appreciate the problem (he was a Roman citizen after all), so he

wrote them this little piece of advice. He was a reasonable man, not wanting to burden new believers

with unnecessary rules and regulations – makes sense doesn’t it? We can ask: does it hurt anyone? Does

it make me forget my duty to God and family/friends? Does it nurture the Dark Side or does it

encourage the Love-One-Another side? Just be kind and think it through. You’ll know.

Everyone is welcome at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church: Sunday service at 10 a.m. and coffee hour

afterwards.