Slow Down 

   Over the years I’ve learned that most anything I do, I do better if I take my time and don’t rush things.  I’m safer in my car when I’m not speeding to get somewhere.  It’s much healthier for me to live at a slower pace.  Most of all, my prayer life is better when I take the time to truly be in His presence.  There is nothing in my life that doesn’t benefit from a more relaxed pace.

   Especially in my spiritual life a slower, more prayerful pace is important.  I can’t rush God and if I try I will only frustrate myself.  The path to heaven isn’t a race but a pilgrimage.  A journey on which I need to take the time to come to know Him and learn the lessons He wishes to teach me.

   It takes time to truly come to know God and His plan for us.  He will not be rushed; he will not hurry up to satisfy my needs.  I must learn to be with Him at the pace He sets, not the world’s frantic pace.

   I’ve spent some time in Benedictine Monasteries and one of the things that has most impressed me is the pace at which they live.  The priority is always prayer and worship.  If it’s time for prayer, all other work stops and the Divine Office, the “Work of God” takes precedence.  Everything is secondary to the right worship of our Lord.

   As a Benedictine Oblate I try to live my life as close as I can to the life of the monks.  I have come to love the slower, more devoted pace of life; the realization that nothing is as important as my relationship with God.  Time is a gift, and I must use it well. 

Lord, slow me down.

Let me walk at Your pace.

Let me walk the path You put before me. 

Amen