Slowing down

Slow me down Lord,

Ease the pounding of my heart

By the quieting of my mind

Teach me the art of slowing down,

To look at a flower,

To chat to a friend,

To read a few lines from a good book.

Remind me each day of the fable

Of the hare and the tortoise,

That I may know 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 soil of life’s enduring

values that I may grow toward

the stars of my greater destiny.