Luke 2:10-12: Joy to the World

INTRODUCTION

Christmas time is supposed to be a time of great joy. But many people are sad. You have heard of S.A.D., seasonally affected disorder. This usually describes people who react badly to winter weather because there is less sunshine, but many are affected by the approaching Christmas season as well. There are the usual reasons for feeling sad, maybe it is separation from loved ones, or the loss of a loved one. Maybe it is coming to the end of a rough year where many expectations went unmet and many hardships surprised us. There are added troubles this year as we have another Covid Christmas. The world is more joyless than usual at this time. There has been a 28% rise in Covid related depression, 53 million cases. There has been a 26% rise in Covid related cases of anxiety, 76 million new cases. There has been a 15% rise in eating disorders among young people during Covid. There has been an increase in domestic violence. On and on we could go, we live in difficult times.