Newsletter: Index.

Letter from the Rector

`I need a holiday'! How many times do you hear that said - how many times do you say it`? I always find that as the summer term approaches its finale I'm longing for a break. Is it that I really need it, or is it just that I'm looking forward to it and so my mind becomes fixed on it? Presumably I wouldn't collapse if I couldn't get away for a couple of weeks?

In previous ages, a week's holiday would have been unheard-of for ordinary folk - they had to make do with the Holy Davs. Nowadays many people seem to
have lots of holidays. I always say I could take a map of the world and at any given time fill it with pins to mark where people in our Parish are.

When I was young, er,hmm - I mean younger! (get the violin out) I, and most folk I knew, had a week away at the seaside or wherever, or stayed at home and went for `days out'. It was a big occasion, a holiday. My earliest memories are those of spending many a Sunday afternoon on Blackpool beach and our annual two week holiday in Scotland - we were posh.' I remember the first time I went to Spain, on school tour, I was 12 years old, the neighbours thought we'd won the lottery!

Social history is a fascinating subject; it is not just the changes in people's lifestyles that are so interesting but the mental shifts that go with them. Have you noticed how often the words `leisure', `recreation' and `relaxation' are used nowadays? We are told we need to learn relaxation techniques. I wonder what our ancestors would have made of that? Not that I've anything against such things, but it intrigues me as to whether we've got ourselves into such a constant state of activity that we have just forgotten how to relax as a normal part of our lives.

Our social diaries can be as exhausting as our work ones. Most workplaces are driven by the nee to perform, to produce. If the workforce is driven too hard, this is self-defeating - production goes down not up.

Sometimes holidays can be very stressful and I'm one of those people who get to a new place and immediately want to do all there is to do and see all there is to see. I need a rest when I come back. I'm not good at `switching off'.

Perhaps that's why to really relax I don't need to switch off but to switch on - to switch on to God. Prayer is not just about asking for things or telling God about things but just `being' in God's presence. This is to be `at peace' - the best relaxation there is.

Ah, well, better go - my relaxation class starts in 10 minutes!!!

Wishing you all a wonderful summer break.

With love Kesh x

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