MAY DAY, MAYDAY, MAY DAY!!! (by Jerry Ogles)
This phrase is one of the most commonly of all used in air, sea, and land. It means we have an urgent emergency. It means we have a problem that needs addressing with immediate dispatch. Having flown military aircraft for more than thirty years, I have had occasion to use this phrase several times over land, and once over the Sea of Japan. It was used by many airmen of the past and even by the radioman of the great RMS Titanic after striking an iceberg in the cold North Atlantic waters.
Please note its simplicity. It is short and easily understood by the one to whom it is addressed. That is precisely what a prayer should be. It is not an expression to be embellished either with haughty words or grand oratory. Perhaps the simplest and shortest prayer of the Holy Bible received an immediate and complete answer: “Lord Save Me!” “And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.” Matthew 14:29-30
This old world, and even our own nation, founded on Christian principles, badly needs to utter a May Day call to our Father in Heaven, “Lord, save Me!”
This is not intended as a communal prayer, though it could be as well; but it is always, at least, a personal prayer of immediate and profound importance addressed to God petitioning for salvation - for whom? For ME! Let us follow the example for prayer given by our Lord Jesus Christ “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.” Matthew 6:6-8
Our Lord then gives us a model prayer which seeks little more than our daily bread, but praises our Father in Heaven chiefly.
We, too, are in dire danger of perishing - both individually and as a nation lest we have appealed to Heaven by means of our MAY DAY prayer.
