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Good Morning. More than ever before, life is a race against time. A Japanese magnetic levitation train has broken the world speed record reaching a top speed of 374 miles an hour. China has the fastest computer, operating at 33.86 petaflops. The world’s largest fast food chain has expanded to over 41,000 branches across the globe. If we let ourselves, each of us can fall prey to this way of living. As a journalist, I remember racing back to Broadcasting House to meet a deadline, only to be brought to a halt in Covent Garden by a guy who held out his arms as a barrier and said: ‘Slow down, man, it ain’t worth it.’  And he was right, of course. Society has an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder issue with speed. The spiritual life, on the other hand, doesn’t operate in top gear.  It’s not about instant results through the latest aps but, in the words of the Benedictine writer, Sister Joan Chittister, a ‘slow, slow uncovering of the mechanics of the soul.’ The journey from winter into spring is a marvellous lesson in unfolding and learning to wait. Patience is how we learn to grow. Love between two people can’t be rushed unless it’s really infatuation. Grief is a process that can’t be hurried, despite modern trends to fast forward rather than pause. I remember being in a monastery, talking to one of the older sisters about her long life as a cloistered nun. What spiritual insights, I wondered, had she discovered, in all those years. ‘I’ve been here since 1955,’ she replied. ‘And I’m still waiting for something to happen.’ So this morning we ask you, Lord, to slow us down so that we can begin to see your goodness in others - and ourselves. Amen.