1 May 2023 Anno Domini, the Anglican Orthodox Communion Worldwide
“And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, 10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. 11And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more.” (Revelation 18:9-11; all scripture quoted is from the King James Version)
May Day brings happy memories to my mind of the days of youth. We still danced around the May Pole with ribbons attached in elementary school. But May Day has a different meaning for many different cultures. It may mean a celebration to the honor of the Virgin Mary in the Roman Church. It means a welcome to the mid-day of spring to many others. But it also bears a more somber meaning to the political totalitarians of the world. To them, it is known as the International Day of the Worker of the Communist Party – as well as that of the unions of the world that has more recently shared the same mission as the Communist Party.
I have been a military aviator for more than half of my eighty years of life. To me, May Day, May Day, May Day! is a distress call. Any time a serious emergency arises in the air, or at sea, a May Day message is sent out. May Day, May Day, May Day! is an international distress call used around the world.
Perhaps at this point in the history of our great nation, it may be appropriate to send out a May Day call to the nations of the world as well as our beloved country. We have ceased to be the nation founded in 1776 by our Fore Fathers. It is true that we have a remnant of men and women willing to die rather than live in chains, but our wealth and ease of living has spoiled our younger generations and convinced them that they are entitled to all the benefits of the labors of others.
There is an excellent parable recorded in the Gospel of St. Matthews that addresses the ‘entitled’ dilemma: “For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. 2And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. 5Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. 6And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? 7They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive. 8So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. 9And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. 10But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. 11And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, 12Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. 13But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? 14Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. 15Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? 16So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.” (Matthew 20:1-16)
We, today – all of us – are living on the blessings God has granted to past generations of America when our people still revered God as Sovereign and Guide of our nation. What has been the result of banning School Prayer, the Bible, approving abortion as an unwritten Constitutional right, or the national approval of a law demeaning the sanctity of marriage. Has our nation become more sophisticated, more law-abiding, more respectful, or less unrestful, more civilized – or do we observe the very opposite.
The plan of the Great Deceiver in the Garden of Eden was to destroy the man that God had created. He has used an array of weapons in his abundant arsenal – disease, endless war, murder, hate of others, abortion, and the destruction of biblical marriage, among other destructive means, to achieve that purpose. How is that working out for that old Serpent? We have lived lavishly as Babylon. We have controlled world trade and its money, we have turned from God to hedonism. Now what? Shall we, like the Babylon of Revelations, be destroyed in a single hour – sans God, sans love, and sans pity?
