Life gets crazy. Is it just me, or is America obsessed with busyness? We admire those who are accomplishing most. The fastest, the brightest, the best. A dear friend and I write to each other every week. A few weeks ago she sensed my chaotic heart and enclosed this poem by Wilfred A. Peterson, entitled “Slow Me Down, Lord.”
Slow me down, Lord!
Ease the pounding of my heart
By the quieting of my mind.
Steady my harried pace
With a vision of the eternal reach of time.
…
Help me to know
The magical power of sleep,
Teach me the art
Of taking minute vacations
Of slowing down
To look at a flower;
To chat with an old friend
Or make a new one;
To pat a stray dog;
To watch a spider build a web;
To smile at a child;
Or to read a few good lines from a
Good book.
Remind me each day
That the race is not always to the swift,
That there is more to life
Than increasing its speed.
Let me look upward
Into the branches of the towering oak
And know that it grew great and strong
Because it grew slowly and well.
Slow me down, Lord,
And inspire me to send my roots deep
Into the sail of life’s enduring values
That I may grow towards the stars
Of my greater destiny.
Isn’t that just wonderful? My greater destiny. Lord, you have a greater destiny for me than anything I could hope for. Help me to have th faith to follow without fear.
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