When I think of Max Ehrman’s Desiderata, my whole body relaxes.

He says: “Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.”

Words of wisdom.

Last week I was running behind my own self-imposed time schedule. I was cleaning out a tuna can to recycle. I ripped open my index finger which bled profusely. (Incidentally, I was wearing a white cotton skirt and managed to escape any blood stains on my skirt.) But there was a lot of blood everywhere else. Knowing my doctor doesn’t do emergencies, I went to the urgent care located across from our building. I received my first stitches aside from wisdom teeth removal which I had not counted.

It was a bother to try to keep the wound dry so the stitches could do their work, but for the most part, I did. I wore rubber gloves to do most things and the finger of a rubber gloves to bathe and shower.

When I went to the doctor today to have the stitches removed, he complimented himself for doing such good work. Indeed he did do a good job. I have a tiny reminder on my right hand to slow down.

But my point is that if I had not been in  a hurry, I would have taken more care in the first place. I would not have needed stitches, nor would I have needed a tetanus shot, a trip to Laguna Niguel in mid-week, or any of the other additional time-takers that I experienced. My grandma used to say, “Haste makes waste.” Grandma was right about a great many things.

Hurrying did not save me anything, neither time nor money.

Since I know that God, Divine Mind is everywhere present and in the truest sense everything is in perfect order, I relax and let the blessings flow. I stop. Take  a breath. Remember that I am surrounded by infinite intelligence and that all is well.

On page 148 of the Science of Mind textbook, Ernest Holmes writes: “When we speak into this Mind, we have sown a seed of thought in the Absolute and we may rest in peace. We need not make haste, for it is done unto us as we believe. ‘In that day they call upon me, I will answer.'”

You too are a child of the Universe, no less than the trees and stars. You have a right to be here.