I’m stunned. I just learned from my friend John Ed Mathison’s blog on May 10 that I missed Loyalty Day, celebrated on May 1. John Ed opens:

How did you celebrate May 1? It was designated as a special day by a lot of groups. It was Law Day—it was Met Gala Day—it was Sing Me a Song Day—and I’m sure many others.

The most important declaration was a proclamation by President Biden designating May 1, as “Loyalty Day.” This wasn’t a new designation. President Dwight D. Eisenhower proclaimed that May 1, 1955, be observed as Loyalty Day. The U.S. Congress in 1958 made it an official recurring holiday. For 66 years every President has proclaimed May 1, as Loyalty Day.

The aim of Loyalty Day is to shine light on historic events that have led to the forming of this great nation and recognize the freedoms we enjoy.

I not only missed Loyalty Day this year, but I’ve also missed it EVERY year beginning in 1955. I’m trying to process the implications.

Loyalty Day certainly sounds important and needed. Wikipedia’s explanation opens this way:

Loyalty Day is observed on May 1 in the United States. It is a day set aside “for the reaffirmation of loyalty to the United States and for the recognition of the heritage of American freedom”. The date, May 1, was set in order to counter International Worker’s Day, and was conceived in the height of the Second Red Scare.

The enigma is, how can a “holiday” of that importance, “made an official reoccurring holiday” by the US Congress in 1958, be that obscure? I didn’t know about it. Did you?

• Is it because it’s not actually a holiday in the sense that some things shut down? We remember Martin Luther King Day, President’s Day, the Fourth of July, etc., in part because they are Federal Holidays.
• Is it a lesson in communication? A holiday no one knows about is a non-holiday. For example, churches would say they’re all about disciple-making and mission, but if all the members hear is “Show up on Sunday morning and give,” other emphases are non-existent.
• Does the ignorance of Loyalty Day remind us that law without heart change is useless? We’re seeing that in the Roe v Wade reversal, for example.
• Is Loyalty Day essentially meaningless because we’ve attached no ceremonies and rituals to it? There’s a reason why God initiated Passover, for example, and Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me.”

“Telling is not teaching, listening is not learning.” (More about that tomorrow) Passing a law, even accompanied by an annual Presidential Declaration, does not a meaningful remembrance make.

Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things. (2 Peter 1.12 – 15, ESV)