Pastor Simons column in Sunset Villa's fall-newsletter.

A Saturday Morning in October, the Danish Ambassador to Canada Hanne Fugl Eskjer's voice was heard on the radio. A journalist from CBC Radio had visited her on her outdoor patio, talking about the Danish way of coziness: "Hygge." as a way through the pandemic and the time of winter. [Read the articel and listen to the Ambassador here]

All of us visiting Sunset Villa knows what "hygge" is all about. When we gather in the Danish Church in Toronto,we know that aswell, and in general, when Danes gather in our homes and to parties, we are world champions in hygge.

"In general, hygge is a cozy moment where you relax either on your own or often in good company with people you appreciate," Hanne Fugl Eskjer says in the interview. And she is right!

And in that sense, for me, hygge is a way to share that hope and light we need in times of the pandemic and also in the time of fall and winter.

Lighting candles, pour coffee, tea or cocoa into the cup and spend time together - best of cause in-person, but it could, in fact, also work online via our video-calls on our phones, tablets or computers. Now, entering a time of year where it's more comfortable to be indoors instead of outdoor, we may use all the possibilities we have to connect.

Therefore, we at the Danish church have started to live streaming our worships (including the Christmas worships). And we are also inviting you to online coffee meetings, and we have made an online fall bazaar with candy and Christmas sweets, where you can have all your ingredients for Danish Hygge (read more on our website www.danishchurchtoronto.ca).

Let us spread hope with "hygge" and share a nice fall and blessed Christmas time.

Pastor Simon Kangas Larsen.