Two years ago, after my brother passed away, this poem was found in his car. A close friend had it framed for G-Man and I. As my head was racing with the long list of ‘to do’ items and what to blog this week, I looked up and read…

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 confusion of my day, the calmness of the everlasting hills.

Break the tension of my nerves with the soothing music of the sighting 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 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 tree and know that 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 great destiny.  ~Orin L. Crain

Thanks Tuck.