PASTOR'S MOMENT

Pastor Horace Light at Camp Bethel

"Be happy young man, while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth" Ecclesiastes 11:9 niv

I recently spent some time going through old papers that had been given to me. I came across an old May Day Program that outlined a performance that took place during our elementary school days. I attended Back Creek Elementary School in Roanoke County. May Day Programs were a big deal in those days, though I never quite figured out their purpose, other than it offered a good excuse to get out of class and to be outside.

Upon finding that old program, I was spurred to do a little research on what might have inspired our teachers to plan such an event. I found that May Day celebrations can be traced back to the ancient Romans. Later it spread throughout Europe as a time to celebrate summer. The Anglo-Saxons considered May 1st as the first day of summer. May was symbolic of a return to life, of the defeat of a hard winter, and new hope for planting and harvest.

About the time Columbus was discovering America, Europeans were observing May Day to celebrate love and courtship. Long before our current high school prom queens and kings, villagers would elect a young, attractive couple to represent the King and Queen of May. Like the celebrations of my youth, they would then dance around the May Pole, which to them represented the skyward symbol of life. (Actually we danced around the school flagpole. I suspect that most of my classmates, especially the boys, had no idea that the flagpole symbolized life.) Like the ancients, we wore colorful costumes and held on to streamers as we circled the pole. Those were happy, carefree days that created special memories. Solomon, in our text verse, proves once again that children and their feelings of happiness have remained the same for over 3000 years.

So here we are today, a few years older and absent from the May Day celebration of dancing around the May Pole. However, I suspect that all of us are happy and carefree of heart as we celebrate spring and the coming of summer. Mother's Day, cleebrated on May 11th, will be an opportunity to honor the women of the church who surely represent the best as the symbol of life. May we all continue to create new memories as we celebrate May together?

Happiness and Joy

Pastor Horace Light

Service Times

Sunday School: 9:30 AM
Worship Service: 10:30 AM

PASTOR'S MOMENT

Links

Service Times

Sunday School: 9:30 AM Worship Service: 10:30 AM

PASTOR'S MOMENT

Links

Sunday School: 9:30 AM
Worship Service: 10:30 AM