Dear friends,
Even though September is the ninth month, it is often thought of as the place where the year really begins, because it marks the start of the school year and for many a return to work. It was certainly a rude awakening for me as a child, when I suddenly learned that mom and dad and the little street we lived on were not the extent of the known world, and that it was pretty serious business this going to school. And who can forget that sickening feeling in the pit of your stomach when you were wondering who your classmates would be, and what your teacher would be like. And I remember thinking, as I lined up with all the others in front of the ominous school doors, ‘wouldn’t it be nice if life could be one long summer holiday’. Yet in time I came to recognize, that it was actually the contrast with the rigours of the school year that made holidays such a joy. And it’s interesting to note that the word and concept of holidays have their origin in ‘holy days’, and most specifically in the holy day we call the Sabbath.
When most people speak of holidays and the need to enjoy a little rest and recreation, they may not be aware that the first one to ever have some rest was our Creator: “…God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in Creation” (Genesis 2:3). And as well, the whole concept of recreation comes from the idea of ‘re-creation’; to be recreated and born anew like on the first days of Creation. In other words, in order to truly experience rest and recreation we need to understand holidays as holy days, and use them to explore our original created purpose. Now this doesn’t mean we have to think of summer as one super long Sunday worship service. As we read in our catechism: “Humanity’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy God forever”.
So in a very real way, my childish wish for life to be one great big summer holiday is not just so much dandelion fluff in the wind. For our calling is to celebrate life with all that we are, and to experience the joy of bringing God into the center of our world, only to discover that God has been there all along.
Blessings, Reverend Lewis
