On the first of May, when I was young, my sister and I would make and deliver May Day baskets to friends in the neighborhood. Now, growing up in tiny Keenesburg, Colorado (the town slogan was “500 Happy People and a Few Soreheads”), that meant the whole town was our neighborhood.
So we would make little baskets from paper cups and pipe cleaners or paper cones and ribbon, decorate them with flowers and spring colors, and fill with candy and treats. Then we sneak over to a friend’s house, place the baskets at the front door, ring the door bell and run. It was like playing ding-dong-dash but with a little treat at the end.
The key was to not get caught. Sometimes though, if you really ‘liked’ the other person, you’d dally around and get caught anyway, just so they’d know.
It was a sweet and charming little tradition: one I don’t think is celebrated much anymore. But it was also a small reminder that life, like Springtime and the Holy Spirit, has its delightful joys and surprises. And you never know when, or how, they will show up.
Pax,
Pastor Scott
