Slow me down, Lord

Seems appropriate lately...

Slow Me Down, Lord from To Africa with Love - the biography of Mother Mary Martin of the Medical Missionaries of Mary by Mary Purcell. I believe the prayer was written by Cardinal Cushing.

...

SLOW ME DOWN, LORD! Slow me down, Lord, Ease the pounding of my heart by the quieting of my mind, Steady me with the vision of the eternal reach of time, Give me, amid the confusion of my days The calmness of the everlasting hills. Break the tensions of my nerves with the smoothing of the streams.

Help me to know the restoring power of sleep. Teach me the art of one-minute holidays; Slow me down to look at a flower, To chat with a friend....

Remind me each day that there is more to life Than increasing its speed. Let me look into the branches of the towering trees And know that they grew great and strong Because they grew slowly and well.

Slow me down, Lord. And inspire me to send my roots down Into the soil for life's enduring values That I may grow towards the stars of my greater destiny, Slow me down, Lord Slow me down. Slow me down.