
We Can Still Slow Down
Weariness seems to be a common experience this Advent. With gifts to buy, parties to attend, and work to complete before year’s end, this season that represents waiting can feel more like an ever-ticking clock reminding us just how little time there is left to get it all done. So often, just when we feel we’ve completed our efforts for the day, a pinging sound or illuminated phone pierces our peace, letting us know that there is one more email, text, or task awaiting us.
In “Turn Toward Each Other and Away from the Screen,” Carrie McKean encourages readers to put down the phone and be present with people. While to-dos will remain, the tension may lessen as we reset our priorities.
“In sending his only Son Jesus, God ‘showed his love among us,’ it says in [1 John 4:9],” writes McKean. “In Advent, we anticipate that coming: the Word made flesh. Embodied. Incarnational. Not God in a spiritual or digital form, but God who sits at the table and laughs with you. God at a coffee shop, if you will.”
There’s still time for slowing. As Christmas draws closer, may we turn toward one another.
Podcast of the week
Russell and Leslie meander through the 2025 podcast episodes and share some of their favorite moments. Watch the video of this episode on YouTube here. EPISODES REFERENCED: (See a list…
In the United States, more than 450,000 churches, ministries, and non-faith-based organizations combine into an ecosystem. This is more than double the number of fast food restaurants across the country,…
More from christianity today
in the magazine

As we enter the holiday season, we consider how the places to which we belong shape us—and how we can be the face of welcome in a broken world. In this issue, you’ll read about how a monastery on Patmos offers quiet in a world of noise and, from Ann Voskamp, how God’s will is a place to find home. Read about modern missions terminology in our roundtable feature and about an astrophysicist’s thoughts on the Incarnation. Be sure to linger over Andy Olsen’s reported feature “An American Deportation” as we consider Christian responses to immigration policies. May we practice hospitality wherever we find ourselves.
related newsletters
CT DAILY BRIEFING: Get the most recent headlines and stories from Christianity Today delivered to your inbox daily
CHRISTIANITY TODAY WEEKLY: Christianity Today Weekly: CTWeekly delivers the best content from ChristianityToday.com to your inbox each week.
CT women
CT’s weekly newsletter highlighting the voices of women writers. We report on the news and give our opinion on topics such as church, family, sexuality, discipleship, pop culture, and more!
Delivered free via email to subscribers weekly. Sign up for this newsletter.
You are currently subscribed as no email found. Sign up to more newsletters like this. Manage your email preferences or unsubscribe.
Christianity Today is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
“Christianity Today” and “CT” are the registered trademarks of Christianity Today International.
Copyright ©2025 Christianity Today, PO Box 788, Wheaton, IL 60187-0788
All rights reserved.




