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

       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 many grow

       toward the stars of my greater destiny.

                             – Author Unknown