Hiraeth is a Welsh word that has no direct translation into English. The best reputable definition I could find was from the Collins Dictionary which defines hiraeth as “a nostalgic longing for a place which can never be revisited”. Personally I do not love this translation, as I think there is a lot more packed into this word than just glorified nostalgia. For my money, I would define hiraeth as one’s longing for a home, time, and place that may have or may never have existed. One usually encounters this word on the internet with pictures of green meadows or medieval villages, a very kitsch faux-nostalgia theme. My reason for bringing up hiraeth is that I often have this feeling, and I do not think I am alone. I think humanity longs for a place that is outside of its grasp, and I have a theory as to why.

This may not be relatable to everyone, but there are moments when I will be driving down the road, or inside some building and I will just stop and look around. I’ll see large black asphalt taking up hundreds of feet worth of space. McDonalds, big box stores, and strip malls with seas of parking lots. Glass and steel with generic kitsch decor. Our lived environment feels so artificial and fake. It feels an eternity away from medieval Europe with kings and queens. The old 1980s warehouse turned into a nondenominational church offers no comparison between even the most average parish church in any little central European village. Not to say that theology is not important, because that is definitely one of the most important things about a church, but when looking purely at aesthetics (which is not irrelevant), there is a clear winner. Don’t think I am just trying to belittle America, as there are beautiful places across the country. Much of Germany rebuilt after the war is also quite ugly. My point is that a majority of our cities and towns just feel fake. They feel soulless and void of any purpose or point. The new store down the street is not trying to make the city feel more liveable, it is meant for profit, and little else. A critique of capitalism is in order, but this is a story for another time.

It seems to me that I spend a lot of time longing for a different place, a better place. Somewhere where the city has a town square, where the doctrinally sound churches meet in incredible buildings, and where it feels like the city itself has a soul, and not just that it is a place to leave as quickly as possible. That being said, I am not sure that this longing/desire can ever be satisfied. As much as many of North American cities can be quite ugly, I doubt that people in Venice or Kraków never have a longing to be somewhere else. It might be cute to live in a picturesque Swiss village for a while, but it will inevitably be boring. I think that there are too many things that we all want in the place where we live, and it is almost impossible to have it all.

We also miss a time when things were simpler. This is where hiraeth can be most compared to nostalgia. It was nice to be a kid, playing and having a clear conception of right and wrong is nice. I think a lot of us dream for our societies to be like that. We miss when our biggest problems were loud teenagers and the cows getting out of their pen. We would like to go back to the simple problems of the past. The issue here is that I am not sure this time that we are dreaming of ever existed. History is filled with war, violence, and bloodshed. Not to say our modern problems are irrelevant, but if anything the current year is more boring than most of the past few centuries.

To summarize where we are at so far, while our cities are pretty messed up, living somewhere pretty won’t fix our personal problems. History is violent and we currently live in a fairly peaceful time. Well, that makes things complicated. It would then stand to reason that the feeling of hiraeth is entirely irrational. Yes! (Sort of). I think at least for those of us in the church we have a valid nostalgia for when the church had more influence on society and culture. We miss when Christ was more important to people across the board. Globalism also has an influence. People move from place to place to find work and feel less of a connection to where they are living. The internet too allows people to check out of their real-life community and to retreat into the online world. As all of these points are valid, I still do not think they create a valid reason for hiraeth. I think that this longing for a better time and place is divine. I think that hiraeth is the best word we can use to describe our longing for Heaven.

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

– Revelation 21:1-4 (KJV)

Eschatology aside, what will Heaven be like? Truth be told, no one really knows. We know it will be with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Us worshiping God forever. Anything more I would rather not get into the weeds of. I think we can all agree that Heaven will be perfect. I do not know if there will be infrastructure or buildings, but if there are they will be beautiful. There will be no internet addicts or online forums, just good old-fashioned (ironic) community. I can pretty much guarantee there will not be any excessively large parking lots. Heaven will be the perfect manifestation of truth, beauty, and goodness. It will feel that exact opposite of fake and artificial.

To tie this all back together, Heaven explains the human feeling of hiraeth. Or rather the fact that we are not currently in Heaven, but have a perception of what it could be like, explains hiraeth. We think that we long for English meadows or French vineyards. We want the things of our childhood and nostalgia. There are many things we think we want, and to be fair I would take Venice over Reno any day, but the thing we are truly longing for is heaven, and by extension Jesus Christ.

This is not to say that we shouldn’t make our cities beautiful, or that society does not have a lot to do to repent and turn from its degeneracy. However, for those of you like me who may dream often of living somewhere better and never really feel like they are at home, don’t worry, you aren’t. If you repent of your sin and are saved by faith alone in the grace given to us by God through Christ, this is not your home. Nowhere on Earth will ever be your home. Your perfect home will finally come when we are all with Jesus Christ in Heaven.

In the future I would love to write some articles critiquing both capitalism and globalism. I would also like to talk about the importance of new urbanism and making cities beautiful and livable. For now though, this will have to do. I hope that you, dear reader, have been able to learn something more about the term hiraeth as well as Heaven and why we may have these feelings.

Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

– Acts 2:37-38 (KJV)