Dear Reader:

Yesterday at church a prayer was given following the  ‘Joys and Concerns’ portion of the service. I found myself  listening tentatively because I remembered hearing that prayer/poem somewhere before. It was exactly what I needed to hear at that precise moment. It was like water to a desert traveler.

Take a few minutes to ‘slow down‘ and read each paragraph of the prayer because with the Advent of Christmas upon us…(with a lot of different kinds of waiting about to appear)…I suspect we all need to immerse ourselves in the powerful and truthful words of this prayer.

“Slow Me Down Lord”

(Alfred Peterson)

“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 amidst the confusion of my 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.

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 be swift
That there is more to life
Than measuring 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 towards the stars
Of my enduring destiny.

………………………

I shot the photo of the giant oak in my across-the-street neighbor’s yard….and guess who burst into bloom today….”Big Red!” I, not only took time, to look at the flower…the blooms…but also to have a chat and congratulate my faithful floral friend on its continued support and perseverance.

In tomorrow’s post we will “slow down” long enough to bring in the Advent season (with the start of our new month) focusing on the different kinds of waiting.…some more negative, some more positive, and then the very special kind of waiting…the “delicious, shivery kind!”

So until tomorrow…Take a deep breath, slow down, and get your roots nestled all deep in the ground….your values safe from cold winds and unexpected turns in our paths.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh