On our return to our holiday house
after the Easter Vigil Mass at Fanad,
I step out of the car
into darkness.
When I look up
I see a cloudless night sky,
black,
with an amazing array of stars
that twinkle down on me.
I gasp
and stand staring up at the sky
at this unexpected beauty.

Several years ago
I saw an equally beautiful display of stars
when I stepped out of our car
on the Glenshane Pass.

As I gaze in awe
at the glittering night sky
I am aware
that these many thousands of stars
have been present in the night sky
every single evening
since the last time I saw them.

Many nights
light pollution
has kept them hidden from me
but I’m convinced that on many evenings
I failed to see these stars
simply because
I was too busy to look.

So it is with My God.
Sometimes I am blessed
with glimpses of God
in my prayer,
in Mass
and in the extraordinary people
of my everyday life.

But although I’m not always aware
of the presence of My God,
he is always with me,
just as those beautiful stars
are always in the night sky
even when I can’t see them.

© Claire Murray