蜜芽传媒

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Dr Marika Rose.

Good morning. We鈥檙e right in the middle of holiday season. Maybe you鈥檙e just setting off on holiday, or just coming back from holiday; maybe you鈥檙e in the middle of a holiday (lucky you!); or maybe you鈥檙e watching everyone else going away and wishing that you had the money or the time to do the same.

Holidays are one of the ways that we measure time: are we clinging on by our fingernails, waiting till we can down tools or set an out of office email, or are we in the middle of a long trudge, dreaming about the distant holiday possibilities? Holidays also one of the ways that we measure ourselves against one another. What kinds of holidays are our friends and neighbours going on, and what does it say about them? Holidays matter, especially when work or life are stressful and exhausting. It鈥檚 worth remembering that in the age of zero-hour contracts and the gig economy, more and more of us don鈥檛 get time off, don鈥檛 get to stop and catch our breath, even as many of us are working to make other people鈥檚 holidays magical.

It鈥檚 easy to forget about all the people who鈥檝e work hard to let us rest, to have that longed for holiday: the parents, grandparents, partners and friends who worked hard to save up money for our holidays; the colleagues who cover for us when we鈥檙e away, the service workers in restaurants, pubs and hotels; the workers who struggled so we would be entitled to holiday pay. Holidays are a collective effort.

Whether we are working or resting this weekend, God, we thank you for the gift of rest, whether it鈥檚 a gift we are receiving, or a gift we are giving to others. Bless our rest, and bless our work; bless us, this bank holiday weekend. Amen.