May

Holidays, holidays, holidays… it’s all there seems to be, what with the long weekend for Easter, ‘the Wedding’ weekend, and at the end of may – school half term and the Spring Bank Holiday. What with the annual ‘Cadi Ha’ on the 7th at Holywell and Caerwys once again this year, the winter blues have certainly been banished this spring. But with all these holidays, what about work? I’m sure all the essential things will always get done, no matter how many holidays their are. The need for a break, time to catch up with oneself is always very important. In the bible, time is apportioned for work and for rest. The idea of ‘sabbath rest’ is not a new one. I wonder whether or not we allow ourselves enough time for this? The idea of Sabbath is an important one, even for those who are not believers. When we sleep, we allow our minds to catch up with the rest of our lives, the processing that goes on behind the closed eyelids is as important as the work that precedes it. So it is with our waking lives. In the Iona Community we account to one another each spring for the use of our money, for the use of the worlds resources and the use of our time. This last aspect is perhaps the hardest to account for, but there is a real sense of community when one member reminds another of the importance of time off. Not time doing nothing, but spent appropriately with family and for oneself. When at it’s best our lives should be a healthy balance between work, rest and playtime – yes even adults need time to play!! This is sabbath at its best – if we allow ourselves this balance, perhaps we might catch a glimpse of the sacred nature of all things behind time itself.