Cittie of Yorke

As I walked along High Holborn this summer, I came across the Cittie of Yorke public house. Although dating to only 1924, sellers of ale and wine have occupied the site since at least 1439. To a wistful Yorkshireman, far from his native land, this winsome little pub offers a little reminder of home.

Of course, I am no such man, but a homesick Lancastrian might be served just as well by Lancaster House, the large mansion at Lancaster Place. It would seem that we northerners, especially from the most prominent counties, are never short of reminders of our native lands, even while sojourning through the southlands.

Upon becoming Christians, our native land was altered. We became citizens of heaven and sons of the Kingdom. When we each arrive in heaven, it will not be as tourists or even migrants, but as ones returning home, grown-up children moving back to the family estate. In the meantime, we may feel homesick, yet we are afforded occasional tokens of our future habitation: church, fellowship and the Holy Spirit’s indwelling.