Slow Me Down, September 11, 2013 Daily Reflection

It grew tall and strong…

We move so fast in our lives that it seems so many times our days are a blur and our thoughts are not even slow enough to understand. We live in a culture that prizes productivity over thoughtful living. We need to slow down and live our lives instead of speeding up and passing them by.

A very intelligent student in my class said something the other day that really made me think about what our culture is teaching our young people. He said “Ms. HD in my perfect world there would be no need for sleep. Then we would all be so much more productive.” He is a great person who has been taught that productivity is the key to life.

PRODUCTIVITY IS NOT THE KEY TO LIFE. God is the answer and living, loving and serving one another has nothing to do with productivity. I dug up this poem. I LOVE IT! Jenny read it on all of our retreats. Read this slowly and let yourself be in the moment as you do this.

Reflection for Relaxation – Wilfred A. Peterson

Slow me down, Lord!
Ease the pounding of my heart
By the quieting of my mind.
Steady my harried 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 magical power of sleep,
Teach me the art
Of taking minute vacations
Of slowing down
To look at a flower;
To chat with an old friend
Or make a new one;
To pat a stray dog;
To watch a spider build a web;
To smile at a child;
Or to read a few lines from a good book.
Remind me each day
That the race is not always to 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 my greater destiny.

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