Slow me down, Lord

Stress is a reality that everyone faces, more so today when life has gone into a much faster pace. At times, we do not recognize stress till it has already taken its toll on us.

Another year has ended, I guess we need to sit back and relax. Things have been so hectic for the past year that it's a pleasure to have this thought.

We hear expressions like, "Take it easy" and "Take time to smell the roses" but we were just too busy to really take them to heart. We have read of a specialist in human relationships who said we are so busy that instead of human beings, many of us are becoming human doings.

I don't know if there is a cure for workaholics, for this chronic over-activity. But I may offer the following poem by an unknown author as a way of breaking the cycle, as a way of helping each of us to slow down.

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 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 -
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.
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 greater destiny.