In search of the Christmas spirit

This third Sunday of Advent and 12 days before Christmas is supposed to be the "Joy Sunday," Phil Kniss, senior pastor of Park View Mennonite Church, Harrisonburg, VA, told his congregation, but for one exception: the economy. A downturn in our economy, our culture tells us, is robbing us of joy and happiness this season. "Even while we weep and mourn the sorrows of life, there is an underground river of joy--if we align ourselves with the loves and the purposes of God. It should come as no surprise that when our culture which is oriented around self-fulfillment, around satisfying individual drives and desires and with the accumulation of wealth and power, that culture becomes paralyzed by fear, by anxiety and by self-doubt."