Margaret Naughton is from Killorglin, Co Kerry and she works as a healthcare chaplain in the Bon Secours Hospital in Tralee and as a lecturer at Hibernia College, Dublin.
She studied English, History and Theology at University College Cork and IT Tallaght and is currently a PhD researcher in Theology and Religious Studies at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick.
Previous Publications
Her previous publications include Shattered Fragments: Finding God in the Brokenness of Life, booklets on grief and illness by Messenger Publications and a history of healthcare chaplaincy in Ireland.
Margaret is a regular contributor to The Messenger and Radio Kerry’s Thought for the Day. This is her fifth book and her first book of poetry.
Letting Go by Margaret Naughton
In Letting Go, the proceeds of which have all been pledged to the Kerry Hospice Foundation, Margaret writes with courage as she explores her personal journey from hope to loss of hope, from faith in God, in herself and in the world, to doubt, loss of belief and despair.
Writing Honest and Raw
Her writing is honest and raw as she asks God to show Himself to her, a person who wants more than anything to believe in His existence.
So often God seems absent and Margaret doesn’t hold back from calling Him to task.
However, as she explores the darkness that envelopes her during these periods, she learns that God is, in fact, always there; it is our own blindness that prevents us from seeing Him and feeling His presence in our lives.
The Unwinnable War
Margaret writes eloquently about how, even in the midst of despair, we mustn’t give up searching. She learns that we must give up the ‘unwinnable’ war, the forever striving for that which we do not have.
She sees that, paradoxically, it is only by letting go of the fight that we actually win.
Stillness and Acceptance
Having journeyed through doubt and pain, Margaret’s poetry brings her and the reader, to a place of stillness and acceptance, recalling the verse from Psalm 46:10, ‘Be still and know that I am God’.
In this place, we become free to accept the peace and joy that are already around us, waiting to infuse our life with their presence.
Margaret can be contacted on: naughtonmargaret@yahoo.com
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