Advent & Christmas 2025: Choosing Joy in Troubled Times

As we journey into November and December, we invite everyone to reflect with us on a simple, powerful theme: Joy. But wait…

Joy? Doesn’t it seem an odd choice? After all, the world around us — economic uncertainty, political tensions, climate anxiety, wars — often feels as if it conspires against joy. Many of us carry burdens: grief, worry, loneliness, fear. In such times, singing “Joy to the World” or lighting candles of celebration can feel a bit, well, fake?

Yet, Advent is a season of hopeful resistance. Advent is the time of waiting, of growing anticipation, of the promise of light yet to come. In that tension, joy can take root. Joy is not the denial of sorrow; it is the courage to believe in possibility, the conviction that something deep and good can break into our world.

Working Against Joy

Before we rush to the lights and tinsel, it is probably good to name what fights against joy and tries to snuff out hope.

Cynicism and despair, consumer pressure, isolation and loneliness, loss and grief – if we don’t acknowledge these, they can crush the very possibility of joy. But by naming them, we draw them into the light and can start to resist their negative power.

Why Joy Still Matters — and How Christmas Helps

So, what does joy look like in such times — and why choose it?

Christmas can bring a deeper joy, not superficial happiness. This is not about forced cheer or ignoring real pain. Rather, it is a steadier, quieter joy rooted in hope, trust and generosity.

Joy as a ‘counter-witness’. When the world expects cynicism or gloom, choosing joy is a witness: it can say “I believe there is more than this.”

Rooting joy in community. Joy becomes tangible when shared: in candlelit gatherings, acts of kindness, listening to someone’s story, being together in a broken world.

For Christians, Christmas is the celebration of Emmanuel — “God with us.” It is the belief that God does not stand apart from our suffering, but enters into it. The birth in Bethlehem is a reminder of his presence and that in the darkest night, a small light can appear.

But you don’t have to share the Christian faith to appreciate the gift that Christmas offers more broadly: an invitation to hope. In the story of Christmas we find an emphasis on humility (the newborn in a stable), a call to welcome the outsider and a model of generosity and giving.

How to Cultivate Joy in November & December

Here are a few practical suggestions to help this season’s joy take root — whether for people of faith or those simply seeking a bright point at the year’s end:

• Create a “joy journal”— each evening write one small thing that brought you hope or gratitude during the day.
• Serve or reach out. Join a community event, volunteer, send a card to someone lonely. Small gestures ripple outwards.
• Slow down rituals. Light a candle, pause, listen to music, reflect. Don’t overcommit — leave space for some family time, some ‘me’ time.
• Invite conversation. Use simple gatherings (cup of tea, walk, open door) to listen to others’ hopes and burdens.
• Engage with art, music or stories. These help us name what is too deep for words.

From late November through Advent and Christmas, we can journey together as a community. In worship, music and prayer, or at community and family events, we’ll try to inhabit joy in real time — trusting it is not just sentiment but medicine.

We do not pretend the world is pain-free. But we can make space for joy. Not because everything is perfect, but because hope is stronger. And in doing so, we might just find that joy, once glimpsed, lingers long past 25^th December.

May these weeks ahead — however they find you — bring moments of light, peace … and joy.

The Asterby Group Ministry Team