Clergy spouses celebrate their unique spirituality and gifts

Clergy spouses celebrate their

unique spirituality and gifts

By Carol Anningson

The annual May diocesan Clergy Spouses’ Retreat was, as billed, a time of Spring Refreshment. We were privileged to have Camp Medley Director Liz Harding as our guest this year. Liz brought her

Clergy Spouses

Eva Morton and Isabelle Hockin make prayer beads at the Clergy Spouses' Retreat at the Villa Madonna.

skills to our retreat and provided us with an opportunity for growth. She also shared times in her own life when she grew through the circumstances in which she found herself.

This led to very open sharing in our Bible study circle. Sometimes we look around and envy others their spirituality, but Liz reminded us that one size does not fit all. We are all unique in our spirituality. All of our gifts are valuable and we need to celebrate our uniqueness. Each of us looked at what we do well and wrote three of those things on a mug that was ours to keep. Liz pointed out that the mugs were all unique, and they could not change their uniqueness in any way – nor should we attempt that feat.

We considered the questions — Who am I as a child of God? What are my gifts? Isaiah 43:1 says “I have called you by name and you are mine.” We need to accept what we are good at, not to brag but to be confident in claiming and using our gifts — the things we wrote on the mugs and more. We also need to recognize what we are not as skilled in, and accept our limitations.

Our mugs were actually made to hold something other than our strengths — something like a hot cup of coffee perhaps. Just as the mug has walls that allow it to hold the coffee, so we are designed to be containers of God’s presence. Sometimes we allow ourselves to be filled with too many things, too many words, and we need to be still with God.

In John 15:4 we read, “Abide in me as I abide in you.” As the mug is a container we are vessels to hold the Spirit of God. When we do not practice filling ourselves in his presence we are overwhelmed by the things of the world.

The walls of our mugs form boundaries and it is important for us to set boundaries. The Blue Morpho butterfly has become a symbol for hope and health. It spreads its wings and receives energy from the sun. If we don’t take time, like the butterfly, to spread our wings and receive from God we will not be able to do what we need to do on our spiritual, emotional and physical journeys.

Liz also made Anglican rosaries with us and each one was certainly unique! She supplied the beads, crosses and line for stringing them, and the instructions. We used them by repeating a phrase and moving from bead to bead. For example, string one bead breathing in and say “Jesus guide me,” string the next bead breathing out and say “Jesus, guard me.” We continued all the way around. We noted after we finished this project that it didn’t take long for us to help each other to string the beads and tie the knots.

As the walls of our mugs can only hold a certain amount of liquid, so we need to recognize that this is true about ourselves. We need to practice saying “NO” to prevent being overwhelmed. We sit in the presence of God, praying without words, and invite Jesus in. We used the rosaries throughout the retreat to pray silently in rhythm with our breathing.

At the end of our time together Liz read a passage from the book she used as a reference for the retreat: *The Cup of Life* by Joyce Riggs. We also heard Psalm 43:3 — “O send out your light and truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling.” And Psalm 16:7,8 tells us “Bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. I keep the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.”

A close bond has formed among those who attend our annual Clergy Spouses’ retreat and we all look forward to this time together. We are blessed by ministering to each other and this year we were truly blessed by Liz’s presence with us. We are also thankful for the support of Archbishop Claude Miller, who provides the accommodations at the Villa Madonna. Next year’s retreat is already booked for April 24 – 26.

Carol Anningson is married to the Rev. Canon Howard Anningson of the Parish of Carleton in Saint John West.