A truck pulls up
by the side of the Birren Road.
It’s an American-style truck,
open-backed
and with four spot lights on the roof.
The driver toots the horn,
gets out of his truck
and stands patiently by the roadside.

Immediately
sheep start to drift down
the slopes of Mullaghmore
and trot across the Birren Road
where they stand patiently
beside the truck driver.
After about five minutes
a flock of about fifty sheep has gathered
and I realise
that this is not just an ordinary driver –
this is a shepherd!

This shepherd is not at all
how I imagined.
I see no staff, no sheep dog
and he’s certainly a far cry
from the shepherds that Jesus described
two thousand years ago.

But this shepherd
is every bit as committed to his sheep
as the shepherds Jesus spoke about
and rain, hail or shine
this shepherd will drive up
to the slopes of Mullaghmore
to tend to his flock.
That hasn’t changed
in two thousand years

Today Jesus remains the “good shepherd”
tending to us, his flock,
carrying us when we are weak
and leading us when we are strong.

The question is –
when Jesus stands patiently each day
and calls each of us by name
do we take the time to listen
and to answer his call?

© Claire Murray, 25th March 2018

Today is the feast day of St Patrick,
a day to enjoy a break from Lent
and a day on which my mind usually fills
with thoughts of treats –
coffee and chocolate,
cake and ice cream.
But not today –
today my mind fills
with thoughts of something
completely different –
St Patrick!

As a teenager,
Patrick was captured in England,
carried over to Ireland as a slave,
and sent up bleak hills in Ireland
to mind sheep.
There, instead of boiling over
with hatred and resentment
towards his captors,
young Patrick immersed himself in God
and on the damp slopes of Slemish
Patrick found peace.

Years later
Patrick gained his freedom
and actually chose to return
to the land of his oppressors
and share with his captors
the precious gift
of his Christian faith.

On this feast day
I have a sense of Patrick
as a young man of deep faith
and tremendous generosity of spirit
with an unsual capacity
to embrace a negative situation
and transform it
into something incredibly positive.
And today I feel blessed
to have such a humble and forgiving man
as our national saint.

© Claire Murray, 17th March 2018

It’s been a tough few months
since Christmas.
Some friends and relatives have died
and others are seriously ill.
These last few months
have felt very dark.
As I leave work
one spring afternoon
the sky is grey,
I am buffeted by the wind
and assailed by driving rain.
Somehow this harsh spring weather
complements perfectly
these difficult past few months.

Turning a corner
I see a young couple
taking photos of the Titanic Museum
while their three toddlers
(who might even be triplets)
merrily run around their feet,
nearly tripping their parents up.
The toddlers are all dressed
in brightly-coloured rain coats
with matching wellies
and hats.
Oblivious to the driving rain
these youngsters run and jump,
splashing their way
through the puddles.

These lively youngsters,
in their brightly-coloured wellies,
are like a ray of sunshine
in my dark world.
For them
this is not a cold, wet, spring day –
this is an adventure!

Thank you, Lord,
for the gift of energetic youngsters
in their colourful wellies
who brighten up our lives
when the world feels
like a dark place.

© Claire Murray, 16th March 2018

When someone I know is ill
I pray
and I always believe
that there’s hope,
even when the illness is serious
or terminal.
You see, in my mind,
there’s always “wriggle room” –
an opportunity for God to be present
and to bless those who are ill
and their families.

I remember one friend
who was told on several occasions
that there was no hope
and yet my friend managed to battle on
in her own quiet, determined way,
for so many years.

Lord,
bless those I know
who are ill.
Slip in there, Lord,
into the “wriggle room”
in each person’s illness
and let your blessings flow
for them
and for their families.

© Claire Murray, 13th March 2018