We’re all aware of peer pressure. It’s a force that can be subtle to very powerful. With young people there is pressure to be ‘cool’ but it’s not just confined to young people. We all are under its influence. Subtle advertising and glossy magazines put us under pressure to buy stuff we don’t want. This is at its strongest coming up to Christmas. On a spiritual level we can safely say that peer pressure is a much lesser force than it was in the past. For many years there was a pressure and an expectation to go with the flow when it came to all things spiritual. If you didn’t go with this expectation you were made feel guilty. Today there is great freedom in choosing what works for us and there is also great freedom in avoiding what doesn’t work for us too. Thankfully we can choose from a wealth of tradition that has been handed on to us. The season of Advent is steeped in tradition and provides a lovely opportunity to prepare, reflect and give thanks as we approach Christmas.


Yesterday we marked the 3rd
Sunday of Advent and it is called ‘Joyful Sunday’. In many churches it is represented on the Advent wreath by the lighting of a pink candle. We have a natural tendency to lean towards negative and sad stories. As a result we take for granted the many good things happening in our lives. There is much to celebrate but we often don’t bother or think it is not worth the effort. Sometimes and sadly there are times we think we are not worth it. The message of ‘Joyful Sunday’ is of course you are worth it and of course you are worth celebrating. If we can’t do that, then there is no point having Christmas. Christmas celebrates you. Christmas is all about God celebrating you. We put the spotlight on all our good news stories today.