Sometimes we get tired, and want to retire from the fray. Life is difficult, the challenges are great, our expectations are often unrealistic, and opposition is unexpected. We want to give up and run for cover. This is true for every stage of life, but especially is it so when you get older and don’t have the energy and stamina of youth. When I compare myself with colleagues who are half my age, I think that I am ineffective. However, what will they be like at my age? I can remember being gung-ho for every new enterprise in my twenties and thirties. With the world changing so rapidly around us, we have to work harder to keep up. Yet, wasn’t the world changing rapidly in the sixties and seventies, when I was getting started in ministry? How do we keep on doing what we do? We can’t quit, fold our tents, and slink away to oblivion before our time.

St. Paul writes, “I press on to take hold of that which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12-14)

We have to press on, straining toward what is ahead. We have a goal to fulfill, a prize to win. We cannot fall out of the race. We have a call, a vocation to complete. Each of us is commissioned by the Lord to do a unique task. When we get tired, we need to get the rest we need to fuel us for the morrow. We need to take care of ourselves. But we must not give up. The word that challenges me is ‘perseverance’. We are to “run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:1-3)

The following prayers are a help to me.

“Lord, when you give to your servants to endeavor any great matter; grant us also to know that it is not the beginning but the continuing of the same until it is thoroughly finished which yields the true glory. Through him, who, for the finishing of your work, laid down his life for us, our redeemer, Jesus Christ. (Sir Francis Drake)

“Give us God, the power to go on, to carry our share of your burden through to the end, to live all the years of our life faithful to the highest we have seen, with no pandering to the second best, no leniency to our own lower selves; no looking backward, no cowardice. Give us the power to give ourselves, to break the bread of our lives unto starving humanity; in humble self-subjection to serve others, as you, God do serve the world.” (J.S. Hoyland)

I have always had a problem with patience. It is hard for me to wait in line. It is difficult to be patient with people who irritate. Of course I forget that surely I irritate lots of people. I want to rush through things and get them done. I love to speed read – to get to the end of the book or article I am reading so that I can begin the next. I want to arrive so badly that I don’t enjoy the journey. I am thinking ahead so much that I do not take in what I am doing. Being goal-oriented can be counter-productive to the process it takes to get there.

            One of my goals for this coming year is to learn to be patient and to eliminate hurry in my life. I have come across three prayers that I am going to incorporate into my daily life. The first is from Peter Marshall (1902-1949), the Presbyterian minister from Scotland who pastored in Atlanta and became an influential Chaplain of the U.S.Senate before his early death. His biography, A Man Called Peter, by his wife Catherine Marshall, was made into famous movie of the same name. It made a great impact on my life when I was in high school.

In the name of Jesus Christ, who was never in a hurry,

we pray, O God, that you will slow us down,

for we know that we live too fast.

With all eternity before us,

make us take time to live

–        time to get acquainted with you,

–        time to enjoy your blessings,

–        and time to know each other.

A well-known Japanese version of the 23^rd Psalm was authored by Toki Miyashina in 1969.

The Lord is my pace-setter, I shall not rush,

He makes me stop and rest for quiet intervals,

He provides me with images of stillness, which restore my serenity.

He leads me in the ways of efficiency; through calmness of mind,

And his guidance is peace.

Even though I have a great many things to accomplish every day,

I will not fret for his presence is here.

His timelessness, his all-importance will keep me in balance.

He prepares refreshment and renewal in the midst of my activity

By anointing my mind with his oils of tranquility,

My cup of joyous energy overflows,

Surely harmony and effectiveness shall be the fruits of my hours,

For I shall walk in the pace of my Lord, and dwell in his house for ever.

Toc H is a Christian service organization that was founded in World War I and operates like the USO. Its founder, the Rev. Tubby Clayton, produced a book of prayers that includes the following.

Slow me down Lord! Ease the pounding of my heart by the quieting of my mind.

Steady my hurried pace with a vision of the eternal reach of time.

Give me, amidst the confusion of my day, the calmness of the everlasting hills.

Allow me to know the magical restoring power of sleep.

Teach me the art of taking one-minute vacations….

of slowing down to look at a flower, to pat a dog,

to read a few lines from a good book.

Let me look up into the branches of the towering oak

and know that it grew great and strong because 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 greater destiny.