Take a Holiday

I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. (Psalm 77:11)

We pack our bags and chase the horizon in search of an escape. In our modern hustle, we call it a "holiday." But if you trace the origin of the word, you find something far deeper than beach resorts and sightseeing. A holiday was originally a holy day, a consecrated pocket of time set apart not just to leave our routines, but to reflect on our lives and realign our souls. Over the centuries, our holy days have drifted, morphing into secular holidays focused purely on leisure. While rest is essential, leisure alone cannot heal a weary heart. To truly restore ourselves, we must learn to turn our holidays back into holy days.

True reflection requires a deliberate pause, a willingness to look inward. The 17th-century Puritan writer Richard Baxter provided a brilliant framework for this in his classic work, The Saints’ Everlasting Rest. He called the practice soliloquy—the act of speaking intimately to oneself in the presence of God.

According to Baxter, we should actively spend time:

"…seeing how God’s truth should be affecting you, your life and all your relationships, and then pleading and preaching to your heart until it connects to the truth and begins to turn away from its false hopes and to change its attitudes, feelings and commitments."

This is not passive meditation; it is an active, loving confrontation with one’s own soul. Baxter takes it a step further, challenging us with beautifully urgent language to use this self-discourse to ignite our faith:

"Plead thyself from a clod to a flame; from a forgetful sinner and a lover of the world, to an ardent lover of God; from a fearful coward to a resolved Christian; from an unfruitful sadness to a joyful life; in a word, till thou hast pleaded thy heart from earth to heaven."

When we step away from the noise of the world, scripture gives us the perfect blueprint for how to fill that quiet space. The first step is remembrance. In Psalm 77:11, the psalmist writes in a moment of distress: "I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago." When the pressures of life pile up, our holidays give us the margin to look backward, counting the ways God has been faithful, even when the current season feels dry.

The second step is internalization. In Luke 2:19, following the chaotic and miraculous events of Jesus’ birth, we read that "Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart." Mary didn’t just move on to the next task; she sat with the mystery and weight of God's work. A holy day invites us to do the same, to treasure and ponder, rather than just consume and forget.

You do not need to travel to a distant monastery to reclaim the holy day. In fact, one of the most excellent times to practice this is during regular Church worship. As the hymns rise and prayers are spoken aloud around you, it is entirely appropriate to use that corporate space for private sanctuary. It is a beautiful time to come before God with the unique pressures weighing down your life and lift them quietly to Him. In those moments, amidst the liturgy and song, you can tune out the distractions and remember a foundational truth: before God, you are a precious child whom He deeply cares for.

Let us incline our hearts back to God. The next time you find yourself with a day of rest, look past the mere pursuit of leisure. Use the time to consider the things that truly matter, preach truth to your own heart, and allow your soul to be pleaded from earth to heaven.

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. (Luke 2:19)

Brian Leathers July 2026