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.

Help me to know the magical, restoring 

power of sleep.

Teach me the art of taking minute

vacations - 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.

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.