As the years quicken, I find
I am rushing from slow to slower . . .
slow of foot, slow of mind,
slow of hand, slow of art.
I'm no longer up to speed.
The fable of the tortoise
and the hare
doesn't really compensate
for the fact that the opposite
of quick
is dead.
Still,
there is restfulness in the notion
of slow food and slow motion,
or not being on the go at all.
Maybe God invented turtles
to remind us
that he is often slow . . .
slow to anger,
and, to my surprise
. . . and dismay . . .
slow to speak.
He needs, I surmise
to keep that pace
to stay with his flock.
But for all that,
God, the first responder,
made the rabbit too.
Quick to listen
and swift to keep his promises,
he holds fast to his word.
Lord, be my pacemaker
that I, neither
hasty, nor slow of heart,
may be quick
to follow.
About the Author
Joe Veltman is a retired pastor and sometime artist. He served several CRC and RCA congregations in Canada and the U.S. He and his wife attend Geneva Campus Church in Madison, Wisc.
