Let’s respect our holy days

THE EDITOR: There are 14 days assigned as public holidays in our country. Seven of these are ceremonial, like Independence Day and Republic Day, while the other seven should be more accurately referred to as holy days.

The issue is not in the number of holidays, but in the way we treat our holy days. While all holidays – days of commemoration – should be respected, the holy days – set aside for religious observances – should be revered and protected.

One of the indicators of a healthy nation is how we treat our sacred days. New social strategies and other measures are inadequate in themselves to sustain us as a nation, but our holy days must be well kept as we seek to preserve our values. Our felicity has encroached on our spirituality.

Although many faithful still practise their respective religions, there is a creeping sense of dissociation with the holiness of our sacred days, as distinct from holidays or ceremonial days and other observances. This is not a good sign for a fledgling nation, as hedonism and materialism seem to be having sway on the way we treat our holy days.

I checked the etymology and found that the English did that to us, like so many other things. They set us up with rhyme with no reason and we are holding on to it, without considering how the change in the appellation is affecting our nation. The word “holiday” is rooted in an old English word, haligdæg (halig “holy” + dæg “day”), used in reference to special religious days; but over the years it has morphed to become a special day of rest or relaxation, a time to stay away from work or school.

So the name of the day for religious observances changed in meaning with one letter from a day of piety to one of festivity.

Our deep-set desire to revel, emanating from our freedom from slavery and indentureship, has shaped our attitude to all things, including that of our holy days. But it remains that the true strength of our people is in our spirituality. We should not treat it with frivolity and pursue pleasure only as the main course for our nation.

Yes, we are a festive, fun-loving people but maybe we have failed to see the subtle changes that our preoccupation with pleasure has had on our religious persuasion and ultimately our values.

We are becoming a people who seem to care less about the spiritual ideals that holy days represent. Our value standards are falling, the rum and fete are calling and the nation seems drunk with pursuing pleasure and leisure instead of keeping the faith.

The sacred and the sanctified are being cast aside. Holy day or holiday, some people still “come out to play.” All things have become equal in our insatiable appetite for fete. The significance of the religious seasons has become less conspicuous and we are producing more limers than worshippers.

Now the children are rising up to be “just like we.” A people who party more than they praise, a nation that finds its pleasure in more holidays and disregards the significance of holy days. We are throwing parties in Lent and desecrating our worship days and making our holy days a time to lime. It is to our detriment.

Let’s keep our spiritual ideals in their rightful place. Let’s treat our holy days as more than just holidays, so we can change our ways and save our nation.

APOSTLE TERRENCE HONORE, San Fernando

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"Let’s respect our holy days"

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