Lord,
I watch house martins
as they swoop, dive and dodge,
building a mud nest
on a neighbour’s house.

They seem so sure
of their place in the world –
Dundrod for five months
and then Africa
for the rest of the year.

I wonder whether they have any sense
of your place in their world?
If you were to appear in Dundrod
would the house martins recognise you
as their designer and creator,
the reason for their being?

Sometimes I question
my place in the world.
I rail against
the complexities of my life
and I struggle.
I look on the certainty of the house martins
with envy
and I lose sight of the fact
that right here, right now
is exactly where I am supposed to be.

Help me, Lord,
to remember to give you
your place in my world
so that I, in turn,
may find my own.

© Claire Murray