Slowing down for a Jesus-shaped December

Philippa Strachan reflects on the yearly tug between longing for a quiet, Christ-centred Advent and the whirlwind that tends to sweep us away. She offers a fresh invitation to consider how Jesus would walk through our December with grace, presence, and peace.

I don’t know about you, but every year I enter Advent with the best intentions — determined to slow down, cherish the season, and stay centred on the One we’re actually celebrating. Yet so often the reality looks different. I overschedule, overindulge, and overspend (three of our four birthdays also fall in December, which doesn’t help!). By January I usually feel like I need a holiday…just to recover from the holidays. 

But this year, I’m craving something different. I’ve found myself thinking about how Jesus would approach this season. He loved a celebration, he was often found around tables, sharing meals, and fully present with the people in front of him. Yet I’m not sure he’d approach December in quite the way I have in the past.

John Mark Comer reframes the old “What would Jesus do?” question as: What would Jesus do if he were me? And so, this Advent, I’m asking myself: What would Jesus do (or not do) if he were living my life, with my family, my responsibilities, in my December?