Vacation or Holiday
Wednesday, July 7, 2010 at 4:16PM A few years ago at about this time of year, I took a group of young people from a parish to Scotland for a religious pilgrimage. The trip was wonderful and the significant moments could fill this blog. However, one of the odd things I remember was the term, "holiday." Many of the other tourists we encountered would say that they were on "holiday," which of course is "vacation" for most of us in the States. As I read many of your vacation exploits via Facebook, I am jealous and I am trying to determine if you are on a vacation or on holiday. Yes, I am a nerd, so I looked up the definitions and for the British, "holiday" is synonymous with vacation. So, if they are the same you ask, why am I parsing these words?
Here is the why? In a couple of weeks, I will be on vacation but it will begin with what I am calling a holiday, that is I am going to spend an entire day comemorating an event, a religious event. That, of course, is another definition of holiday. One of my nieces is to be married and she has asked me to share in the responsibilities of officiating at her wedding. This will be the second niece to have given me that honor, and I view this as a celebration worthy of a holiday! Like a holiday, the family will be gathered together, siblings and cousins, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews that we do not get to see enough. We will all be there gathered around this celebration, shared prayers, shared meals, and shared memories. This vacation will have all the trappings of a holiday and for that I give thanks.
As you continue your summer vacation, do not forget to take a holiday. Do not forget to celebrate an occasion or two. Do not forget, in the rush to do take time away, to take time to share a meal, to share a prayer, and to share common memories. In the Episcopal Church, every Sunday we celebrate the Eucharist is considered a holiday. Won't you join in the celebration?
Peace, John+
Reader Comments (1)
These are good words of advice. Thanks. I'm guessing that you may have seen a few of our vacation / holiday postings during the whirlwind RV tour of the great west. Nearly 4,000 miles in 10 days. Whew! Despite our frantic pace of moving from one national park to another, we had some wonderful family moments. Some of those were while driving and just talking about what ever came up. During the trip, Thomas finished reading Utopia by Thomas More. I think that he would like to discuss it woth you at some time in the future.