{"id":9914,"date":"2022-09-06T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-06T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/?p=9914"},"modified":"2022-08-22T09:49:43","modified_gmt":"2022-08-22T08:49:43","slug":"hiraeth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/friends-of-cvm\/hiraeth\/","title":{"rendered":"Hiraeth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Hiraeth <em>(Here-eyeth) <\/em>is one of those words in Welsh that doesn\u2019t have a specific equivalent translation into English. The nearest you can get is <em>\u2018Longing for one&#8217;s home\u2019<\/em> and frankly <em>\u2018Home-sickness\u2019<\/em> really doesn\u2019t come up to scratch. An example I remember being told of was an aunty of mine who had married and moved to the outskirts of London in the 1930\u2019s and remained there for the rest of her life. When she was feeling particularly down and missing Wales she used to sit and watch the coaches going between London and Swansea on the off chance of seeing somebody she knew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Funnily enough this was something that I thought I was now immune from having now passed the point in time where I have lived in England longer than I ever lived in Wales. That was however until we went on holiday to South Wales this summer. We stayed on the edge of the Black Mountains and over the space of one week took in some of the most beautiful scenery the UK has to offer. To think this is the same scenery I grew up with on my doorstep and I was utterly indifferent to it (and seeing the Great Barrier Reef didn\u2019t help much). In this case it is especially true that familiarity does indeed breed contempt and I stand guilty as charged on that count.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This made me realise how easily we as Christians can become calloused to what God through Jesus has done for us. We so often sing those words of John Newton\u2019s \u2018Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me\u2019 and just sing it without grasping the full enormity of those words. Before God intervened so graciously in our lives we were sinners and quite literally enemies of a Holy God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I really believe that we need to never lose the wonder of what Jesus has done for us but realise that when we are faced by what this world tells us that we can <em>\u2018Live your best life now\u2019 <\/em>is a false and godless lie. This is contrary to what the Bible teaches that even the best this world might have to offer isn\u2019t even a pale imitation of awaits us in Heaven because of what Jesus did on the cross. As the apostle Paul puts it in <strong>Philippians 3 v 8:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>What is more, I consider <u>everything<\/u> a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them <u>garbage<\/u>, that I may gain Christ<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I underlined the words \u2018everything\u2019 and \u2018garbage\u2019 quite deliberately as they are emphatic in their tone. Think of the most joyous occasion in your life to date and then forget it as what God through Jesus has in store for us in Heaven makes it look like something you wouldn\u2019t want stuck to your shoe. Thankfully there are those all too few fleeting moments when we get just a tantalising glimpse of what heaven is like and what Jesus has in store for us on the other side of this life. It won\u2019t be the popular cartoon image of sitting around with wings playing harps \u2013 it will be an eternal state of praising God for what He has done through the Cross for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, I just finish with this \u2013 do we get the feeling of <em>\u2018Hiraeth\u2019<\/em> for our Heavenly Home when we compare the temporal things this world has to offer irrespective of how good they make us feel, do we have that hope in our lives? If not:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong><em>\u2018Turn your eyes upon Jesus.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong><em>Look full in His wonderful face.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong><em>And the things of earth will grow strangely dim.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong><em>In the light of His glory and grace.\u2019<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\">Image credit: Robert J Heath via Flickr<\/p>\n<div class=\"linkwithin_hook\" id=\"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/friends-of-cvm\/hiraeth\/\"><\/div><script>\n<!-- \/\/LinkWithinCodeStart\nvar linkwithin_site_id = 897245;\nvar linkwithin_div_class = \"linkwithin_hook\";\n\/\/LinkWithinCodeEnd -->\n<\/script>\n<script src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/widget.js\"><\/script>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/\"><img src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.linkwithin.com\/pixel.png?w=750\" alt=\"Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...\" style=\"border: 0\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hiraeth (Here-eyeth) is one of those words in Welsh that doesn\u2019t have a specific equivalent translation into English. The nearest you can get is \u2018Longing for one&#8217;s home\u2019 and frankly \u2018Home-sickness\u2019 really doesn\u2019t come up to scratch. An example I remember being told of was an aunty of mine who had married and moved to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<script>\n<!-- \/\/LinkWithinCodeStart\nvar linkwithin_site_id = 897245;\nvar linkwithin_div_class = \"linkwithin_hook\";\n\/\/LinkWithinCodeEnd -->\n<\/script>\n<script src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/widget.js\"><\/script>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/\"><img src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/pixel.png\" alt=\"Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...\" style=\"border: 0\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":9915,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[97,2019,110,2021,2020],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/blackmountainBLOG.jpg?fit=610%2C291&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s7PoLK-hiraeth","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1841,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/uncategorized\/robs-round-up-29\/","url_meta":{"origin":9914,"position":0},"title":"Rob&#8217;s Round Up","date":"10 October 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"England\u2019s dream of reaching a third consecutive Rugby Union World Cup final is over after crashing out in the quarter-finals 19-12 to France. Lewis Moody\u2019s side began dreadfully, trailing 16-0 at half-time following tries from Vincent Clerc and Maxime Medard. They fought back as Ben Foden and Mark Cueto crossed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Blog\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2320,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/uncategorized\/the-bouras-bulletin-8\/","url_meta":{"origin":9914,"position":1},"title":"The Bouras Bulletin","date":"27 February 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Liverpool won their first piece of silverware in six years but required penalties to overcome Championship side Cardiff in the Carling Cup final at Wembley on Sunday. The underdogs had led for more than 40 minutes before Martin Skrtel pounced on a deflection off the post to cancel out Joe\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Blog\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1422,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/uncategorized\/robs-round-up-6\/","url_meta":{"origin":9914,"position":2},"title":"Rob&#8217;s Round Up","date":"28 March 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"England beat Wales 2-0 in Cardiff to go top of their European Championship qualifying group. A Frank Lampard penalty and Darren Bent\u2019s goal inside 14 minutes was a double blow that Wales could not come back from and they are now pointless from four matches. Republic of Ireland moved joint\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"cvm\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1868,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/uncategorized\/robs-round-up-30\/","url_meta":{"origin":9914,"position":3},"title":"Rob&#8217;s Round Up","date":"17 October 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Hosts and favourites New Zealand will play France in the Rugby Union World Cup final after respectively beating Australia and Wales in the semi-finals. Les Bleus were fortunate to sneak a 9-8 win over Wales, who had captain Sam Warburton harshly sent off for a dangerous tackle in the 19th\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"football\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8250,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/thoughts-from-the-cvm-team\/praying-like-my-life-depends-on-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":9914,"position":4},"title":"Praying Like My Life Depends On It!","date":"27 November 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Since I first committed my life to following Jesus Christ, the one thing I have found most difficult to do is PRAY! Particularly in the early days it just felt like I was doing nothing when I should have been doing something. I can remember the frustration of asking people,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Team CVM&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/praying-e1570782283512.jpg?fit=1000%2C667&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2237,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/the-bouras-bulletin\/the-bouras-bulletin-5\/","url_meta":{"origin":9914,"position":5},"title":"The Bouras Bulletin","date":"6 February 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Two penalties from Wayne Rooney helped Manchester United fight back from three goals down to draw 3-3 away at Chelsea in the weekend\u2019s big Premier League game on Sunday, the first time in Premier League history that Chelsea have surrendered a three-goal lead. Daniel Sturridge forced Jonny Evans to turn\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bouras Bulletin&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9914"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/98"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9914"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9914\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9916,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9914\/revisions\/9916"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}