Slow Down!

 

Lisa Meakin took these photos while walking around Goldings in Hertford  

Slow me down, Lord! Ease the pounding of my heart by the quieting of my mind.  Steady my rushed pace with a vision of the eternal reach of time.
 
Give me, amidst the confusions of my day, the calmness of the everlasting hills.  Break the tensions of my nerves with the soothing music of the singing streams that live in my memory.
 
Help me to know the great power of sleep, teach me the art of taking breaks; of slowing down to look at a flower; to chat with an old friend or make a new one; to watch a spider build a web; to smile at someone; or to read a few lines from a good book.

 
Remind me each day that the race is not always won by 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 our greater destiny. 

Based on a prayer byOrin L Crain