367: A SHIP UPSIDE DOWN.

photograph taken on May 1, 2016 of the Pine Valley Chapel in Southern Utah.

A year ago on May 1st, I wrote about MayDay. (Not to be confused with May Day, the holiday of Spring), but Mayday as the emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal in voice communication.

The word, "MayDay" is used to signal a life-threatening emergency primarily by aviators and mariners.  The call is always given three times in a row ("Mayday Mayday Mayday") to prevent its being mistaken for some similar-sounding phrase under noisy conditions.

On this past Sunday, May 1st which was May Day, my family attended a church meeting in the historic Pine Valley Chapel in Southern Utah. Built in 1868, this building is the oldest meetinghouse in continuous use of the LDS Church. It was designed by a Scottish shipbuilder and LDS convert, Ebenezer Bryce  (who Bryce Canyon is named after). The construction of the chapel was built using techniques adopted from shipbuilding, and is basically an upside-down ship.

As the building was finished, Ebenezer Bryce was heard to remark, "If a flood should come, it would float and if a wind came strong enough to blow it over, it still would never crash to pieces."

If only our faith and testimonies were built as strong... so when the floods and wind come.. we would not crash to pieces and have to sound the distress Mayday, Mayday, Mayday call for help.