It’s one of those showery days
and as we leave home
to walk down the Lisburn Road
we don’t know whether to expect
sunshine on our faces …
or rain!
Just to be sure
we kit ourselves out
from head to toe
in waterproofs.

Our luck holds for a while
and we enjoy a wee dander
in the sunshine.
But just as we turn
to come home
the sky darkens,
the temperature drops
and raindrops start to fall.
So, it’s hoods-up,
heads-down
and quick-march home!

Some time later
we find ourselves blinking in the sunlight
as the road brightens ahead
and the rain eases.
We’re in a sun-shower!
So sparkly and beautiful,
as if the sky doesn’t know
whether to laugh or cry!

And as we turn to look behind
we spy a massive rainbow
arching high up in the sky.
It stretches right across Belfast
in strong, vibrant colours
transforming a grey city landscape
into a picturesque scene
of brightness, light and colour.

So much beauty and joy today,
in a rainy walk
down the Lisburn Road –
thank you, Lord!

© Claire Murray, 18th February 2021

It’s early on a Saturday morning
and outside it’s cold, dark
and raining.
In the distance
I hear the hum of traffic
on the motorway.

I’m not looking forward
to today –
difficult decisions
and awkward conversations
lie ahead.

As I settle down to pray
the air is filled with birdsong –
a wee robin
is singing his heart out
just outside our window,
dispelling the darkness
on this dark, damp morning.

Thank you, Lord,
for the comforting serenade
of this wee robin
as I stand on the brink
of this difficult day.

Thank you, Lord,
for this wee minstrel of hope
who reminds me
that I am not alone
in the darkness of today
because you will be with me
at all times
as I make my deliberations.

© Claire Murray, 24th October 2020

Lord,
two joiners came to our house
to install our new kitchen.
Power-drills, circular saws
and jigsaws
buzzed and droned
for hours
and at the end of a long day
the work was completed.

It made me think
about my Daddy
who is a joiner by trade
and who fitted a new kitchen for us
over thirty years ago –
before the days
of power tools.

Hard work!

And I found myself
thinking about you and Joseph
working as carpenters
using calloused hands
to work with simple tools
and wooden pegs.

Did you use a plane
away back then
to shave ribbons of timber
off doors and tables,
sending Goldilocks wooden curls
cascading
onto a sawdust floor
like my Daddy used to?
(I used to love that!)

Lord,
please bless all joiners today.
Keep them safe
in this fast-paced world
of power-tools.
Guide them
to find creative solutions
to problems
and inspire them
to approach their work
with integrity
as you and Joseph did
so many years ago
in Nazareth.

© Claire Murray, 23rd January 2021

Our front room is filled
by the usual mixture
of light and shadows
cast by lamps
on this dark winter’s afternoon.
While I’m standing
with my back to the window
a large shadow on the opposite wall
catches my eye.
From where I’m standing
I can see clearly
what is casting this shadow –
the chandelier that hangs
from centre of the ceiling!

I’m amazed.
I’ve spent so much time
in this room
and while I have always
had an awareness
of the light and shade here
I have never before
noticed a pattern
that is oh, so clear to me now!

How could I have missed it?

Life presents all of us
with many challenges
and while we’re in the thick
of these difficulties
we can see only darkness.
And yet when I look back
in later years
I can see that the hand of God
has been there,
with me at all times –
guiding me,
supporting me,
carrying me,
helping me to grow.

Lord,
when dark times come
help me to remember
that there is a bigger picture
that makes sense of my crisis
even if I can’t see it
and help me
to place my trust in you.

© Claire Murray, 21st January 2021