Slow Down

Yes, I still have my “Slow Down” post-it on my speedometer. I’m going to keep it there as a reminder to slow down, and remember that I'm driving in town not out in the country!

I also need to remember to slow down in my everyday life. Yesterday, I made a mistake at work because I was hurrying too much, and realized that in my hurry to accomplish all my work at the office, I need to slow down and "be more observate and pay closer attention". We all tend to hurry too much, I've seen it referred to as "Hurry Sickness".

Tonight it was my turn to lead our Covenant Discipleship Group that I belong to. We meet weekly. Later this week I will write about that, when I have more time. But for tonight’s post I want to share with you the poem that I passed out to our group this evening, in fact we closed reading it together. I think it fits in with all of our busy lives. We all go through life too fast. We need to slow down, not just when we are driving in the car, but to slow down our life too. I’m getting better at that, the older I get, especially since my husband is retired, I am slowing down a lot more, to keep up with his slow, relaxed pace! But, some days I forget, and I fall into hurry sickness. Here is the poem I want to share with you.

This poem is taken from “The Book of Grace”, it was given to me as a gift for Christmas one year by a friend (who also happens to be part of our Covenant Group). “It’s a collection of international poems, prayers and quotes that bring peace and spirituality into your life”, put together by Margi Preus and Ann Treacy (who are from Duluth). I have enjoyed and referenced this book quite often.

Slow Me Down, Lord
Slow Me Down, Lord
Ease the pounding of my heart by
the quieting of my mind.
Steady my hurried pace with a vision
of the eternal reach of time.
Give me, amid the confusion of the day,
the calmness of the everlasting hills.

Break the tensions of my nerves and muscles
with the soothing music of the singing
streams that live in my memory,
that help me to know the magical
restoring power of sleep.

Teach me the art of taking minute vacations –
of slowing down to look at a flower,
to chat with a friend,
to pat a dog, 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 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.
-- Richard Cardinal Cushing (1895-1970)

Have a nice slow evening!