The Cambridge dictionary defines ‘hygge’ as ‘a Danish word for a quality of cosiness (= feeling warm, comfortable, and safe) that comes from doing simple things such as lighting candles, baking, or spending time at home with your family:’.

Sounds perfect, doesn’t it? As the stubborn frost remains on my street today, I have turned on the heater, poured myself a steaming cup of coffee,b snuggled under a blanket and put on some gentle music. So the frost can freeze, the cold can bite, but here, in this hygge bliss, I am happy.

Even as a wee girl, I sought to make things cosy. As a parent, I love it when everyone is in, the curtains are pulled and the fire is lit. When the lockdowns happened three years ago, I didn’t need to change much in my life.

But an uneasiness has started to grow in me; the irrefutable truth is: sometimes we need to confront the difficulties in life. Sometimes we need to acknowledge that bombs are still falling, children are still dying, the world is crumbling. Sometimes we have to go out into the cold, make that phone-call, sign that petition, and pray. Always pray.

During the pandemic I used to light a candle every night, not to create a hygge cocoon, but to remember people at the cold face of covid. Maybe we can use our own hygge to help others? I remember my granny used to knit colourful blankets for children in Romanian orphanages. Can you think of anything you could do now?

I love hiding away, but there’s a place for stepping out and being brave too. If your heart is aching over something you have heard, throw off your comfort and do something about it. For my housebound self, that is a challenge. I read this hard prayer from Jim Elliott (martyred for his faith 67 years ago today in Ecuador) which goes ‘Father, make of me a crisis person. Bring those I contact to decision. Let me not be a milepost on a single road; make me a fork, that others must turn one way or another on facing Christ in me.’

It is perfectly ok to enjoy our comfort, but other times, we need to face hardship for the sake of somebody else. Who will that be for you today?