Holy Days

Because it is that time of year, this month’s recommended article is about holidays. The writer, Natalie Garrett, who is an Anglican priest and trained actor, considers the role holidays play inour modern lives, and how they can refresh and re-charge us, but also how we can sometimes feel let down if our time off does not live up the expectations we had for it (especially where the British weather might play a role).

But whatever happens on our holidays, we expect them to differ from our day-to-day lives, and we expect to return from them the better for the experience.

Garrett points out that the need for a holiday is deep-rooted in human existence, with most religions having a day, or days, set aside for rest and celebration. But in our modern world, we are less connected to these traditional cycles of rest and worship.

In the Christian faith, the creation account of seven days, with the seventh days being a day of rest, helps us to remember our creator, and our own limitations. Modern culture, though, tends to be “always on”, allowing us little space for deep reflection.

Jesus, by contrast, invites us to draw away with him to quiet places, and to find true rest. So, the essence of a real holiday is setting that time aside in order to reconnect with ourselves, our loved ones and our creator – regardless of the weather.

Read the article here