Go Slow

I was teaching a friend of mine how to dock a boat one day. The wind was blowing and the current was ripping and he had a sick look on his pale face as he tried to maneuver the big boat into the dock. He was entering the dock way too fast and was panic stricken. I calmly reassured him and told him a saying I heard from an old boat captain, who said, “Go slow, so you look like you know”.

I instructed my buddy to put the engines in reverse until the boat completely stopped. I then told him to slowly inch the boat forward by bumping it in and out of gear at a crawl, or controlled drift, aiming the boat slightly upwind of his entry point.

He slowly but quite successfully maneuvered the big boat into the dock under difficult circumstances with minimal banging around. He looked like he had been doing it all of his life and was beaming after it was all over.


As I grow older it becomes more and more apparent that this adage, “Go slow, so you look like you know”, applies to many things in life. In fact the Bible states that “even a fool can look wise” when they do so!

We all need to slow down a little and think before we act. I saw a sign down in the Florida Keys that said, “What’s your hurry, your already here?”

Vacationers pour in and seem to forget that they’re on vacation. They drive like they are trying to beat the rush hour traffic without considering that there is no rush hour traffic in the Keys. They are on vacation to relax and should slow down and take it easy for a change.

We all need to just calm down some.


Nowhere is it more apparent than the thinking/speaking process. We should all take time to think before we speak and never lash out when we are angry. Unfortunately I have trouble following my own advice on this sometimes; invariably the results are unpleasant. The Bible teaches that we can be considered “wise” when we hold our peace.



OK “wise ones”, let us try to maintain a calm spirit today and go slow so we look like we know. Let’s hold our peace and keep quiet when we watch the news, or the next angry customer bends our ear, when we lose that next sale, when the boss criticizes us, the spouse incessantly nags, and definitely this afternoon on our commute home when we get cut off by some inconsiderate moron.

We will smile and softly form a pleasant response remembering the Bible verse, “A soft answer turns away wrath”.

Yeah right…You know we just cannot make it on our own; consequently, we need to pray to God almighty for His help and strength. The world is a tough neighborhood but Jesus conquered it for us. Every day I realize more and more just how much I need Him every minute of every day…





Proverbs 17:27

He who has knowledge spares

his words,

And a man of understanding is

of a calm spirit.

Even a fool is counted wise

when he holds his peace;

when he shuts his lips, he is

considered perceptive.