I seem to have heard
so much bad news recently –
about people who have died,
about people who are seriously ill
and about a young relative
who is terminally ill.

Never in all my years
have I encountered so much illness
and death.
Lines of a hymn capture how I feel –
“Change and decay
in all around I see”.

Today the world feels
like a dark, dark place.

But the shopping still has to be done
and so, at the weekend,
I drive out to Crumlin
to go to Tesco’s.
As I approach the town
something in a garden
catches my eye –
snow drops!
And I don’t just mean
a few clumps of snow drops
here and there;
this entire garden
was an expanse of snow drops!

Never in all my years
have I seen
such a carpet of snow drops.
Today those snow drops feel
like a little nudge
from My God,
as he gently reminds me
that it’s spring time
and that there’s hope.

And as I continue my drive
to Tesco’s
the world feels
like a brighter place.

© Claire Murray, 10th February 2018

Sometimes
when I pray the Our Father
I wonder
whether I condemn myself
by the words I speak –
“Forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those
who trespass against us”.

I try really hard
to be a good Christian
and I do my best
to forgive.
Then, out of the blue,
I meet someone
who has wronged me
in the past,
someone whom I believed
I had forgiven
and my heart instantly fills
with resentment.

Then I think
that if God’s forgiveness
mirrors my own meagre efforts,
I’m doomed!

Lord,
help me to forgive others
so that, when I pray the Our Father,
I may not have that sinking feeling
that I have just been condemned
out of my own mouth.

© Claire Murray, 10th February 2018