How did you get on creating a nook in your home? Did you try it or experiment? A spot where you could just rest in being you? A spot which perhaps could be the place for daily devotions, or spiritual or otherwise readings, a place to sup coffee from a favourite or even a special mug and knit or sew or whatever? A place to withdraw to is special for us all, when perhaps we feel sad, shocked, ecstatic or our joy runneth over! A spot where we are comfortable with God, in prayer, mediation, where we can ponder the Bible or what we should or could be doing.
The Danish movement of Hygge, which I have mentioned before, states that in our homes we need ten things which will aid us as individuals and I would add help us to know more about faith and how we are Christians, not just in church or our homes, but in communities and our world. Today we shall think about five of these things and see for ourselves do we have these things or use them. Are they apart of our prayers or being with God?
Have a nook in your home. This is just as we have just shared; a space where you love to be, where you can be you and strip off the many masks we all wear. We love small nook like spaces in which we can feel safe, this could be a reflection back to our days of cave living, when to be warm, dry and cosy were so important and still are!
We need heat. Whether it is central heating, a fireplace with wood burner or gas or electric fire can make a space, perhaps even your nook. A fireplace with something warm and glowing makes us feel good and is a good focal place too. You know how you feel if the heating in church has failed on a bitter Winter's day and also how many won't come to worship if it is that cold and chilly. We so often need some warmth to make it easier to hear God speaking to us through worship.
A candle - this creates a mood a feeling in our nook. It is essential really and reminds of Christ, the Light of the World, that we are having worship time, that it provides pools of light to help us unwind and relax and reminds us we are ok. Many homes light candles in the darker months of the year and in Denmark they burn more candles than they eat ponds of bacon in a year! Now we can use safety candles in our homes, should we wish they provided safety as well.
It is also suggested that in our nook and home too that we have items made from wood, natural, warm coloured wood. There is something about a space which has natural things in it to add to a sense of well being and joining in with creation. Look around your homes, I bet you have wooded things, a mantelpiece over a fire, an ornament, cones in a dish, wooded shelving with books upon them, a clock, logs by your fire etc. Again this is a familiar medium which promotes an aid to being ourselves and being with God. In my study I have a very simple wooded statue of Our Lady, nothing to it really, but I love to focus upon it, handle it so the wood is smooth and deep coloured and use it sometimes in my devotions and prayers.
Another thing to consider for your nook, are flowers, twigs, plants in pottery bowls or vases. This is using things which like wood are natural and speak of our world, of Creation of what is available. It might be pebbles , driftwood forms, shells, it could be fluffy sheepskin rugs, woven hangings, or a nice wool throw etc. All these things are very tactile, very hold-able, very comforting when all feels challenging. Maybe your home is already filled with natural things which remind you about memories, make you feel peaceful and relaxed.
In these troubles days of the virus it is more important than ever to make your nook or your home, filled with feel good factor things, to give a sense of well being and more than that to enable us to draw closer to God in Christ via our home settings. There will always be those who will 'pooh pooh' all this Hygge stuff and say it has no place in our lives, but I would argue that anything that helps us be ourselves, throw off those masks we all wear, is worthy of further consideration and exploration, and might just lead us into a closer relationship with God.
Let's us see where we go next week with the remaining five things we might like to include in our homes or in the inner sanctum of our nooks.
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