Coronavirus Birthday

Posted on 27 March, 2020 by Claire Murray

It’s my birthday today
and I love my birthday!
Coffee and chocolate
for breakfast,
birthday cake,
time spent with family
and, generally,
just being spoiled!

Cornonavirus is here
and my plans have changed
but I still had coffee and chocolate
for breakfast
and I have a birthday cake
all ready and waiting!

But, best of all,
I have planned a Skype session
with our two daughters,
Aoife and Niamh.
Tonight I will see them in our kitchen,
thanks to the Internet,
so that our wee family
can all be together
for the cutting of the birthday cake.

I’m not going to spend my birthday
thinking about all of the frills
that we have had to dispense with
this year.
In the midst of this Coronavirus outbreak
the people I care about
are all alive and well.

Really,
who could ask for more?

Two Metre Mothers’ Day

Posted on 25 March, 2020 by Claire Murray

It’s Mothers’ Day
but it feels weird –
I’m not visiting
my own mother
and although I’m lucky enough
to have received a card
from my son, Fiachra,
who lives with us,
I’ve had to ask our two girls
not to visit me.
We’re all trying hard
not to spread Coronavius,
you see.

This doesn’t feel
like a celebration –
it feels like a day
tinged with fear.

But children are resourceful!

WhatsApp messages
ping onto my mobile phone
early in the morning.
And up the street
I see a two metre Mothers’ Day visit
taking place –
with the mother standing
at the front door
while her daughter and grandchild
sit on kitchen chairs
just over two metres away.

After lunch
I receive a similar visit
from my daughter, Aoife
and her husband, Lucas –
a two metre exchange
of greetings, news
and smiles.

Finally,
we visit our daughter Niamh
at her student house
where Niamh stands at the door
while we stand out in the street
two metres away
chatting happily.

Such unusual and happy
wee family gatherings
this Mothers’ Day –
thank you, Lord!

Coronavirus

Posted on 19 March, 2020 by Claire Murray

There’s a darkness
spreading over this planet
starting in China
and slowly creeping
into Italy,
and, from there,
into the rest of Europe.
and into every single country
in the world.

No country is safe.

Governments declare
states of emergency
and entire countries
are in lock-down.
Borders are closed,
flights are cancelled,
schools and businesses close
and supermarket shelves
empty.

This is Coronavirus
and everyone is at risk.

We call into Barnam’s ice cream shop
for coffee.
We are the only customers.
After a while
the door pushes open
and four young children
swarm in,
talking excitedly,
pushing past each other,
darting from side to side
to survey
oh, so many flavours
of ice cream.

Minutes later,
these young children
sit on a bench,
legs swinging,
as they eagerly lick
ice cream cones
that are piled high
with brightly-coloured
ice cream.

These children are absolutely bursting
with utter contentment.

Thank you, Lord,
for these children
who breezed into Barnam’s today
in a whirlwind of happiness,
unknowingly lifting the spirits
of us grown-ups
and bringing a little sparkle of light
and an atmosphere of joy
into the darkness
that Coronavirus is casting
over the whole world.

Saint Patrick

Posted on 17 March, 2020 by Claire Murray

It’s the feast day
of Saint Patrick –
a very green day … usually,
a day of celebration … usually,
a day to go to Mass … usually.

But not this year.

Coronavirus has arrived in Ireland,
you see,
and this year
the national mood is not one of celebration –
but of trepidation.

I don’t go to out to Mass
because I’m afraid –
afraid of either catching the Coronavirus
or of unknowingly passing it on
to someone instead.

But, thanks be to God ,
we have the Internet
and I’m able to watch morning Mass
online.

Mass ends with an old favourite hymn –
Hail Glorious Saint Patrick
and this year
some of the words
really strike home –
“O come to our aid,
in our battle take part.”

My heart shoots a prayer
up to Saint Patrick.

“Saint Patrick, pray for us.
Please??”

Enniscrone

Posted on 11 March, 2020 by Claire Murray

Lord,
today we go for a walk
at Aughris head.
Tall cliffs,
striped like liquorice allsorts!
Crashing waves,
surf pouring over rocks
and sun glinting
on blue, shimmering water!

Then a wee dander
along a coastal path
at Enniscrone
where long waves stretch
all the way across
the huge expanse
of Killala Bay
before whooshing gently
onto the sandy beach.

Meanwhile, around the corner,
Atlantic waves swell and crash
against steep banks
of rounded limestone
roaring a noisy protest
of rattle and clatter
as retreating waves drag and haul
at reluctant stones,
pulling them away down deep
into the cold, wild Atlantic.

And all the while
the sun shines down coldly
from an autumn-blue sky.
Such a perfect day,
spending time together
as a wee family
on a Hallow E’en break –
thank you, Lord!

Caterpillar

Posted on 4 March, 2020 by Claire Murray

Today
my desktop calendar
offers these words of wisdom –
“There is nothing about a caterpillar
to say that it’s going to turn
into a butterfly”.

And I wonder
if this was the kind of thought
that Jesus formed in his mind
when he met Levi,
the tax collector.

Jesus didn’t approach Levi
with disgust
or treat him with disdain
like other Jews
who viewed Levi
as a traitor –
a Jew who collaborated
with Roman occupying forces.

Instead,
Jesus approached Levi
with words of welcome,
and invitation –
“Follow me!”
And to everyone’s amazement
Levi did just that –
he followed Jesus.

Lord,
help me, like Jesus,
to treat those I meet
with respect.
Help me
not to judge by appearances
because, who knows –
maybe that person, inside,
is a beautiful butterfly
and not a caterpillar
after all!

In Conversation With God

Spiritual Reflections by Claire Murray

Monthly Archives: March 2020