Photo was taken by Matthias Kost from Pixabay

There is nothing like a good cycle along a trail or pathway away from traffic. There is also a huge growth in cycle greenways all over the country and beyond which is great news. I guess Santa will be delivering many new bikes this Christmas which is also great news too!

Thought on Saturday – December – 18/12/2021

‘If Christmas isn’t found in your heart you won’t find it under the Christmas tree.’ ~Charlotte Carpenter

Christmas is getting so much closer now. Last weekend we lit the 3rd candle on the Advent wreath. The third candle is pink and it is meant to stand out. The third Sunday of Advent is called ‘Joyful Sunday’. In many churches the emphasis today will be putting an emphasis on good news. It is a day to celebrate good news stories in our community and in our lives.

Today no apologies are made for highlighting our good news stories. It is crucial and important that we do. We have a natural tendency to lean towards negative and sad stories. Covid has meant that we have been leaning constantly towards a lot of bad news.

We all need to hear good news, we need to nurture good news and importantly we need to celebrate good news. We need to bring the balance back in. That is why ‘Joyful Sunday’ is one of those days to at least try and put the spotlight on some good news. These good news stories are plentiful but they often get squashed and pushed to one side. These good news stories do not have to make the headlines. It is often the small and insignificant good news stories that really are the best of all.

Christmas can be many different things to people with lots of spiritual significance. Christmas can be rightly called a ‘Celebration of Good News’ but especially of your good news. The message of ‘Joyful Sunday’ is that of course you are special and always worth celebrating. If we can’t do that, then there is no point having Christmas. Christmas celebrates you. You are special and always will be.