Reshma has spent
five long and lonely months
in hospital
receiving treatment
for leukaemia.
And recently,
I’ve been asking Takashi Nagai
to pray for her.

Takashi Nagai was diagnosed
with leukaemia
as a result of extensive work
with X-Rays.
Takashi survived the atom bomb
which was dropped on Nagasaki
and which his wife, sadly,
did not survive.
In the aftermath of that atom bomb,
Takashi willingly exposed himself
to deadly radiation
as he worked in the city ruins
to help survivors
and to make detailed observations
on the effects of radiation.

Takashi, who was a man of deep faith,
went on to become
a Holy Man of Nagasaki
as he inspired people
all round the world
with his attitude
of generosity
and Christian forgiveness.

Each day now
I ask Takashi Nagai
to pray for Reshma –
for healing and strength
as she battles her leukaemia.

I’m convinced
that I’m asking the right person
to intercede for Reshma
because if anyone can understand
Reshma’s physical and emotional pain,
it’s Takashi Nagai.

(I wonder some day
if they’ll make him a saint?)

© Claire Murray, 13th March 2025

I remember
coming in from playing
when I was wee –
face streaked with mud,
knees mucky,
clothes boggin’,
eyes dancing!

Brilliant fun!

As an adult,
my days of playing outside
are well and truly over
and yet today,
when I came in from the garden,
it felt a bit like being wee again –
face streaked with mud,
knees mucky,
clothes boggin’
and, I suspect,
eyes dancing!

We had been busy in the garden,
you see.
Bulbs to plant,
holes to dig,
moss to scrape away,
paths to brush,
leaves to rake
and twigs to tie into bundles
(for the wee creepy-crawlies!)

Busy … mucky … fun!!!

Thank you, Lord,
for a happy, fun afternoon
in our garden
that brought back memories
of those mucky, fun,
carefree days
of childhood.

(Aren’t gardens great?)

© Claire Murray, January 2025

We decide to spend today
pottering about the garden.
There’s plenty of work to do –
digging-out, dead-heading
and tying back.

An interesting discovery
in the garage –
two plastic pots full of bulbs.
Unidentified.

What can they be?

And so,
our curiosity piqued,
we plant these mystery bulbs
in pots
and position them carefully
in a sunny spot.

All of this
while drizzle falls softly
and birds chorus
all around.

Thank you, Lord,
for a delightful afternoon
spent pottering about the garden
and for all the joy
of anticipation.
(What will those bulbs
turn out to be?)

© Claire Murray, 21st March 2023

Lord,
the wind has stopped howling.
Our home is intact,
the trees are still standing
and the drone of traffic has returned
to the motorway.
Life is returning to normal.

The storm has passed.

Pastel-coloured skies
of pink and blue
greet me this morning
when I come downstairs
and outside, all is still outside.

I feel a sense of relief
that the storm is over.

Thank You, Lord,
for protecting us
during the storm
and for allowing us
to come through it
unscathed.

May we savour today
the peace and calm
that surrounds us
and may the peace
that only You can bring
reign in our hearts.

© Claire Murray, 25th January 2025

In a quiet corner of Musgrave
where shadows linger
and squirrels scamper
lies a pine tree
which was blown down
in a storm
many years ago.

Lying hidden
in the peace and quiet
out of sight, out of mind
and forgotten …
it quietly continued to grow.

Branches on its upper side
reached for the sky
forming a line of slender pines
and only when a recent storm
felled neighbouring trees
did this little miracle
come into view.

I look at the tree,
fascinated,
and think to myself,
“Never say die!”

As Christians we are called
to always hope
and to never give-in
to despair.

Called to believe
in an almighty God
and called never to underestimate
His power.

Called to believe
that our God loves us deeply
and will stretch out His hand
to help us when we call.

Because of our trust in God
we, too, can choose
to never say die
no matter what befalls us in this life.
And we, too, can flourish in adversity,
just like that pine tree.

© Claire Murray, 30th December 2024

Icy roads prevent us
from travelling
and so we find ourselves
at home
instead of at our usual
First Saturday Mass
in Newry.

This provides the perfect opportunity
for us to fill our log store –
a daunting task
that involves wheel-barrowing
hundreds of logs
from a far corner
of the garden
and stacking them neatly
in our log store.

It requires careful planning
and a wile lot
of hard work!

We crunch across frosty grass,
our breath frosting
in the freezing air
as we savour the smell
of freshly-cut wood.
By lunch-time,
most of the logs are stacked
neatly and safely
(with a hollowed-out log
at the very top …
maybe a robin will nest there?)

Quite a feat of engineering!

Thank You, Lord,
for this icy morning
which kept us all at home
and left us free
to spend time as a wee family
working together
companionably and productively
to fill our log store.

(Time for hot drinks now, I think!)

© Claire Murray, 4th January 2025

When Daddy was eighteen years old
he went to Dublin
and over the course of a weekend
he discovered the delights
of O’Connell Street –
four ice-cream parlours!

Daddy enjoyed several
ice-cream sundaes
and concluded that,
in his expert opinion,
the best sundae of all
was one mysteriously called
“Melancholy Baby”.

Seventy-two years later,
Daddy still talks about
that Melancholy Baby!

One day
I have a wee chat
with Michael at Fiorentini’s
and a fortnight later
we all go to Fiorentini’s
where Michael serves up
Melancholy Babies
for Daddy and me.

Colourful layers of
ice-cream and fresh cream,
jelly and tinned fruit
with sprinkles and a parasol
on top
all beautifully-presented
in tall glasses.

Truly a treat to behold!

We both tuck-in
and some time later,
Daddy proudly polishes his off.

Wow – that was yummy!

Thank You, Lord,
for the kindness
of people like Michael
who are prepared to go
that extra mile
to help Daddy (now 90 years old)
relive happy memories
of long ago …

Melancholy Babies …
in O’Connell Street …
seventy-two years ago …
Boys-a-boys …
those were the days!

© Claire Murray, 18th January 2025

Paul and I are working hard
in the garden
on a cold winter’s day.

The conifers down the garden died
and sadly had to be cut down
making our garden feel
a bit more public
as cars, lorries and pedestrians
all pass by
on a busy main road.
But, thankfully,
we still have our hedge
which stretches,
all green and beautiful,
along the bottom of the garden.

But, it is what it is
and, right now,
there’s work to be done!

Hundreds of logs
lie in a heap
waiting to be wheel-barrowed
to a spot
where they can dry-out.
The work is tiring
and, as my Daddy often says,
“Hard work’s not easy
and easy work’s hard to find!”

When we finally stop
we are disappointed to see
that we’re not even
half-way through yet!

Something catches my eye
as I leave the garden
and, turning round,
I see a brightly-coloured rainbow,
huge and beautiful,
stretching across the sky.

Wow!

I remember
that the rainbow is a sign
of God’s covenant with man
and, as I try to remember
what exactly that covenant was,
words of Jesus
spring to mind –
“I am with you always.
Yes, till the end of time.”
And I have a sense
that Jesus has been with us
all that time
as we worked in the garden
and that He is with us right now
as we take this wee break.

You know,
we wouldn’t have seen that rainbow
if the conifers hadn’t been cut-down.
And, see that hedge?
It’ll grow,
and make our garden
a wee bit more private.

(Hmmm … I wonder …
will we get to see more rainbows
now that the conifers are gone?)

© Claire Murray, 20th December 2024