Malcolm Potts July 12th 2015 ~ Holy Days

Australia is on holidays.  I recall as a boy having Ronald Conway's Land of the Long Weekend on our bookshelf at home.  I never read the book but used to get it out and look at the cover with a slouched hat on it - and I loved the title.  Holidays for me as a boy held a kind of expectant mystique, full of potential.What were your holidays like?  How did you feel about them?I think holidays are extremely important.  By ‘holiday’ I don't mean the lifestyle of the retiree, which can mean one long ‘trip’ with periodic visits home to make sure the place hasn't fallen down.  By holiday, I mean the event that coincides with school terms, when kids imagine lazy days playing with friends or a couple of weeks at the beach, usually with extended family who lived somewhere else.The holiday was an event that made up part of the rhythm of the year.  For me, it mostly meant staying home, inventing games, catching up with mates, push-bikes and the local pool in summer.  Many Melbourne families would take their tents ‘down the Peninsula’ over Christmas.  Miles and miles of coastal tent city from Frankston to Portsea.  The Airds went every year for decades.  The Cathys had a house at Mt Eliza. We'd go down for visits.As little kids, our big holidays were largely unsatisfactory, fraught, stressful affairs.  Mum always hoped my dad was more intrepid and practical than he was.  As a result, the caravan, houseboat or camping venture was more a totem of distress than hope of expected freedom. The boat sank, the van rolled and the heart for camping was lukewarm, at best.  Mum got wise after that and it was off to our cousins in Woolongong with their horses, motorbikes, surfboards and swimming pool, or the long drive to Coolum Beach, south of Noosa, for two weeks of perfect sunshine, pineapples and relaxation.Cheryl and I have become very adept at cheap ‘n’ cheerful holidays.  We know they have been fun because our girls have tended to emulate our patterns.  It is a joy to laugh about the adventures we went on when they were little girls.  It's all down to Cheryl; she is the strategic planner.How does it work in your family?Jesus went on regular holidays.  He walked rather than flew or drove.  Nazareth to Jerusalem was a favourite.  His holidays followed predictable patterns around the annual religious calendar - the wonder of expectation as Weeks, Booths, Hanukkah or Passover came around each year.  The great thing about holidays is when a whole nation participates... when all the friends and family join in... when you visit the great sights, the national shrines... when you get to hang out with your brothers and sisters and cousins and all the other village kids - and play.Holy days are great - making room for God, as well as family, community and fun.Happy holy days.Malcolm