The message on the flashing sign on the side of the freeway naturally caught my attention: “SLOW DOWN!”

    I did. When I read those words, I interpreted them as more than a command from the law enforcement officers. For some reason, I sensed a pleading in those words: PLEASE SLOW DOWN! Perhaps that was the intent. Perhaps that was the message of my heart pleading with me: “Tom, please slow down.”

    You see, I noticed that sign as I raced from one part of town to another in an effort to get some Christmas shopping done. Time is running out, you know. Not many shopping days left. All the good deals are going to be gone if I don’t hurry. So, I was hurrying. In fact, all day long I had been hurrying:

• I had hurried to get my daughter to school.
• I had hurried through an early morning stop at the local Walmart.
• I had hurried to get to the coffee shop so I could hurriedly enjoy a cup of coffee and a bagel while I hurriedly read a couple of chapters in a book about fathers and daughters — which, in part, is telling me not to hurry in that relationship.
• I hurried to the “Y” so I could get my workout done, so I could hurry to get more shopping done, so I could hurry back to the house where I hoped to have some time when I didn’t have to hurry.

    That’s when I saw the sign. SLOW DOWN!

    As I try to follow the advice of the sign on the side of the road, I want to plead with you as well: “PLEASE, SLOW DOWN!”

Slow down and enjoy the Christmas season.

    Slow down and enjoy the Christmas season. Have you read the story yet this season? Slow down and read it. As you read, look for the times hurrying is mentioned in the story. Do you read anything about the Savior being in a hurry? Does it say that the shepherds were rushing their flock? Or were they watching their flock? Do you read that it says Mary was tired of carrying the baby Jesus and hurried through her deliver? Do you read about the angels speeding through the delivery of their message, “Peace on earth and good will to men?” No matter how hard I try, or how fast I read, my Bible doesn’t read that way.

    So, I plead with you to slow down. Slow down long enough to enjoy buying the gifts instead of being one of those shoppers who rush home with their treasures so they can say they have something under the tree. I plead with you to slow down and enjoy the gatherings with your friends. I plead with you to slow down during the meals so you can enjoy the delicious foods that have been so carefully prepared. I plead with you to slow down and enjoy this season when giving really is more important than the getting. I plead with you to slow down so you do not miss the message that in this season, and in every season, “God is with us.”

    PLEASE, SLOW DOWN! Relax. Take a break. Enjoy. Remember: "‘Tis the season to be jolly... and to slow down!”

 

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Title: "Slow Down!"
Author: Tom Norvell
Publication Date: December 18, 2002