Monday, September 5, 2011

Poem: "Slow Me Down, Lord" by Wilfred Arlan Peterson


Slow me down, Lord.
Ease the pounding of my heart by the quieting of my mind.
Steady my hurried pace.
Give me, amidst the day's confusion
the calmness of the everlasting hills.

Break the tension of my nerves and muscles
with the soothing music of 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 read a few lines from a good book.

Remind me
of the fable of the hare and the tortoise;
that the race is not always to the swift;
that there is more to life than measuring its speed.

Let me look up at the branches of the towering oak
and know that ... it grew slowly ... and well.

Inspire me
to send my own roots down deep...
into the soil of life's endearing values...

That I may grow toward the stars of my greater destiny.

Slow me down, Lord.

13 comments:

  1. this is so lovely- especially at this time of year when so many are gearing up again for work after the holidays. I have not heard of this writer before so thank you.
    Blessings

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  2. I was hoping that someone saw that I was asking them to slow down as the new year begins in earnest. Thanks, Philomena. I hope you enjoyed your vacation this summer.

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  3. Inspiring!

    helps me enter into the Lord's rest.


    We have to enter into this"sabbath" daily.

    Reading this does it.

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  4. This poem has been a blessing to me. In the wee hours, when my brain starts in on all my problems and fears, I can focus on this poem and am able to find peace and sleep.

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    1. I'm glad it is helping you, Terrie. You need your sleep to be untroubled. I'm glad you can slow down and let God into your day.

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  5. I love this. I found it in my mother-in-law's things after she slipped away recently. However, it was attributed to Orin L Crain. Anyone have details?

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    1. I'm sorry for the death of your mother-in-law. If you do find proper attribution, would you kindly let me know?

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    2. Yes it was Orin L Crain/ Crane who was the original writer. I have a letter he wrote to some one in Philadelphia about people rewriting and changing a few lines. It’s a great poem by OL Crane

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  6. Oh my goodness - just what I needed...

    Being in self- isolation does not mean being still and mindful.

    Our electronic devices, can take up literally hours and become very disgraceful...

    This self isolation is a huge gift.

    Lord, help me use this gift wisely.🙏

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    1. Kitchen Queen, I'm glad you have found this during this pandemic and can see silence as a beautiful gift for us. We will take stock of our blessings better because of this pandemic.

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  7. Sorry, should have read, distractful!

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  8. Just found it today. Thank you :-)

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