Spring Day

Spring Day

Spring sunshine wakes me
as it peeps into our room
around curtain edges
proclaiming the promise
of a sunny day.
Such a gentle and joyful alarm call –
wonderful!

Out in our street,
pink blossoms fall like confetti
from cherry trees
and play chasies
with the wind.
Eventually,
some blossoms stretch out
in pink drifts
along kerb stones.
Others transform
the house on the corner
into a house from fairy-land
whose garden is carpeted with blossoms
like pink snow.

Finally,
an evening walk
with a good friend
in the gentle evening sunshine
where we find ourselves
surrounded on all sides
by the multi-coloured splendour
of Spring.

Thank you, Lord,
for warm Spring sunshine
to wake us,
playful cherry blossoms
to make us smile
and good friends
to accompany us
on life’s journey.

© Claire Murray, 28th April 2021

Remember the Wonders

We live
in unprecedented times
in a world that feels
at times,
more like science-fiction
than reality.

Against this backdrop
of uncertainty
I read today’s psalm:
“Remember the wonders
the Lord has done”.

These words
fill me with hope
and I sense My God
saying to us,
“Have faith, stand firm
and trust in me.”

My immediate response
is to say a simple prayer
that feels very close
to my heart:
“Oh Sacred Heart of Jesus,
I place all my trust
in you.”

I feel reassured.

© Claire Murray, 6th March 2021

Bunnies!

After Danny died
Dolores used to take
great comfort
in visiting his grave,
enjoying the wee dander
through Milltown cemetery
and looking out for
resident bunny rabbits
as they bounded away
across the graves,
white tails flashing Morse code
behind them.

Now it’s our turn
to take comfort
from visiting the grave
that Dolores now shares
with her beloved Danny.
We rarely see the bunny rabbits
but we know
that they’re still around
because they nibbled away
at a tub of primroses
at another family grave
leaving only the leaves
and the stumps of stems.

We weren’t at all happy
with those bunny rabbits!

But a few weeks later
on Dolores’s birthday
we find that the primrose stems
have regrown
and are now covered
with buds,
bursting to open!

Tiny primroses that turn ruination
into blossoming life.
Tiny symbols of hope.
Tiny reminders
of the joy of the Resurrection.

Thank you, Lord,
for these wee primroses
(and thank you
for the bunny rabbits as well!)

© Claire Murray, April 2021

Kircubbin

Today we get to go to real Mass
for Easter!

The car park at Kircubbin
is jam-packed with cars,
with Fr Anthony installed
inside a raised Perspex box,
speakers all around
and a warm welcome
from stewards
on this chilly, Spring day.

Although strangers to this parish
(we get lost twice on the way here!)
we feel at home.

Outdoor Mass begins.
Stone-chats chatting,
robins hopping,
crows cawing
and cold wind blowing.

Then, the highlight of the day –
the body of Christ
brought to us
in our car –
so precious
and so sorely missed
in these recent months.

Mass ends
and we leave.
Smiles again at the gate
and a Faith-Survival kit –
Easter eggs, holy water,
candles and writings to inspire.
We feel spoiled!

Time to trundle home
(picnicking on the way!)
truly filled
with the joy of Easter
and deeply impressed
by a community of faith
and friendliness
that has welcomed us
this morning.

I can’t help feeling
that this is a parish
with an indomitable spirit,
unbowed by Coronavirus
and the mighty challenges
that it brings.

And as we drive home
I give silent thanks
for this wee parish,
this beacon of hope
in dark times.

© Claire Murray, 4th April 2021