Colour Supplement

Articles by Christians around the world

Sunday 27 May 2007

 

Holiday - or Holy Day?

by Tricia Anderson - Reader at St. Andrew's Church

 

As I write this, we are also preparing to go on holiday. I expect most of you were taught the same as me that the word holiday comes from holy day. Nowadays, holiday means a period away from home or business in travel or recreation, but originally meant a day or days set aside for religious purposes. In a Christian setting that would mean festivals such as Christmas, Easter, Whitsun and the major Saints’ days. When I was a pupil at a Church primary school, I remember walking in a ‘crocodile’ to church on Ascension Day, then going home for the rest of the day. In contrast, only 60 years later, we have the ‘Late Spring Bank Holiday’ in place of the ‘Whitsun Bank Holiday’.

Then came Bank Holidays. When modern Western banking began in the 16th century, banks didn’t open for business on days such as Good Friday and Christmas Day preventing the transaction of other commercial business. These days became known as Bank Holidays, and everyone had the opportunity to go to church for special services. Nowadays, bank holidays are not necessarily held on specifically religious days, and have multiplied, and many businesses open on those days, so it has all become confused. However, there is still the idea that a holiday is a time for rest and recreation.

Rest and Recreation

In the Bible, we are told that after God had created everything ‘he rested from all his work’. Did that mean he lay on the bed and snored? I don’t think so. I like to think of him walking on the beach or alongside a river and just enjoying the scenery, the bird song, the butterflies and the scents. Just as Jesus escaped into the hills or out onto the lake after a busy day, I imagine God taking the same opportunity for refreshment and renewal. As we are made in his image, so we too need time away from work, whether paid or voluntary, or just the monotony of everyday routine. It may be that we cannot all afford to go away to another part of the country or the world, to see different scenery and meet different people from our ordinary lives at home, but we all have some opportunity to walk along the river or canal bank, to visit the park or find some other way to have a rest and to be re-created. 

Stewardship

Don’t forget, though, that God gave people the responsibility of looking after his creation. Whether at home or on holiday, we should think about how we care for this beautiful world that God created for our enjoyment. Read Janet Fulljames’ articles for how we can do this.

We shall be in Staffordshire for 2 weeks, where we can look out across the fields of the Trent Valley to the spires of Lichfield cathedral about 8 miles away, and walk along the river Trent and the Trent and Mersey canal, weather permitting. Hopefully, we shall see new ducklings and cygnets, as we did last year, and just enjoy the things that God provides for free.

Wishing you all the chance of some rest and refreshment in the months to come, with my love and prayers,

Tricia

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