It’s Friday morning
and as I walk into the kitchen
I feel absolutely
exhausted.

For me,
Friday is usually
a day of abstinence –
no meat, no sweet stuff
and (worst of all!)
no coffee.

I seriously consider
giving today a miss.
What difference
can it possibly make
to almighty, all-powerful
eternal God
if I don’t bother
abstaining today?
“Surely God won’t mind –
He’ll understand”,
I tell myself.

As I glance out
at the morning sunrise
my mind travels back
through the years
to when our son, Fiachra,
was just a toddler.
I used to go out
to teach evening classes
and Fiachra used to be allowed
a tube of Smarties.
Every evening
when I returned home
there, on the mantelpiece,
I would find Fiachra’s last Smartie
that he had kept for me
specially.

When this happened
my heart would soar at the sight
of this single, tiny Smartie –
a token of love from Fiachra
that meant the world to me.

Remembering this
I resolve
to do my usual Friday abstinence,
my own tiny act of love
and I hope that,
when God sees it,
it will make Him smile too.

© Claire Murray, 7th January 2022