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Good morning.

Today is the August Bank Holiday in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, four weeks after Scotland enjoyed theirs, on the first Monday of the month.Ìý

We owe Bank Holidays toÌýJohn Lubbock, first Baron Avebury, who, in 1871 introduced the ÌýBank Holiday Act.

This allowed all banks to close on agreed dates, to enable staff to have a rest from their daily routine, whilst avoiding the risk of harm to any individual business.

Lubbock was an interesting character: a banker, a politician and a scientist with a special interest in ants, who once tried to teach his poodle to read!

Of course, the idea of a bank holiday, when the entire system shuts down for a day, has been somewhat overtaken by 21st century patterns of 24-7 online banking and shopping.

But today, we should be thankful for people like John Lubbock,

who remind us of the need to take rest:

whether from the routine of normal business, or as in more recent days,

from the weariness of constant video-calls and tele-conferences.Ìý

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The Bible speaks of at least two kinds of rest:

Physical rest, such as the rest Jesus needed when he fell soundly asleep in a fishing boat and slept through a raging storm;

And spiritual rest: the rest that our minds and spirits need, when the pressures of life have become all too much and we just need to draw aside, to stop and to rest.Ìý

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Jesus says to all who are weary,

‘. Come to me and I will give you rest.’

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Lord, help us this day to know the value of rest:

the restoration which can come when we step away from the busy-ness of life and take time to be still.

And help us to respond to your words of challenge and comfort: come to me, all who are weary, and I will give you rest. AMEN.