A lavatory attendant who had been given a week’s holiday appeared at his usual place of work, wearing his swimming trunks and carrying his bucket and spade. When asked by his work-mate why he had not gone to the seaside, he replied that he had been told by the boss to take a holiday at his own convenience!

We all like a good holiday – don’t we? It’s a time to put aside the relentless pressures of work; it’s a break to the routine chores of life; it’s an opportunity to spend time alone or with family or friends. A good holiday can bring emotional refreshment as well as physical recuperation. It can leave us content with our lives and at peace with the world. Yet for many of us going away does not necessarily mean that we are able to leave everything behind. At the back of our minds we are aware of the difficulties at work or home that await our return. And even if we can forget everything, once we have returned we can soon feel as if we’ve never been away. Somehow we need to experience an inner rest that can sustain us wherever we go to and whatever we go through.

Jesus of Nazareth said on one occasion, “Come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” He spoke of a way of life – a life that is centred on a personal relationship with him – a life that is characterised by obedience to his teaching and the love, trust and peace that follow as a consequence.

There are innumerable aids to relaxation available in the marketplace today and I’m sure that some of them can be very helpful. But unless they deal with the root of who we are as human beings their effect will be only superficial and temporary. St Augustine expressed it like this. “O God you have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until we find our rest in you”. As we believe and follow Jesus Christ we discover a life that is connected to its Maker. God, the source of our existence, is the true place of rest in this life.

By The Reverend Richard Walker, of St John’s Church, Yeadon