Learning to Be Myrrh Bearers
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they arrived at the tomb, carrying the spices they had prepared.—Luke 24:1.
I remember preparing to present a workshop at the International Community of Hope conference one summer in Texas. The Community of Hope began training individuals who aren't ordained to serve as hospital chaplains at St. Luke’s Hospital in Houston. The training program is now used worldwide by those interested in visiting the sick and homebound. I have been involved with the Community of Hope in our diocese for over twenty-five years. I continue to see it as excellent preparation and study for anyone called to a ministry involving pastoral care in any form. (Some might believe this applies to all ministries!) One hallmark of the training is its foundation in Benedictine spirituality.
The image of the Community of Hope Chaplains that keeps coming to me is the “myrrh bearers,” the women who brought spices to the tomb of Jesus on that early Easter morning. They brought their most precious resources to honor the one who had cared for them. In my experience, this has been the story of many called to be pastoral in any ministry they are involved in.
They know what it is like to be wounded and be ministered to by other healers. They understand what it is like to be loved and cared for by others. Their only way to share, sustain, and keep that love is to pass what they learned on to someone else.
What happens during the myrrh bearers’ visit is completely unexpected. They go to honor their friend and teacher; instead, they are promised a new life, a resurrection in this life and the next.
I’ve never experienced a visit without receiving resurrection. We are touched and healed by those we visit. We take our most precious possessions—ourselves, our time, and our presence—and make an offering. In return, we always encounter the resurrected Christ in many forms.
During the pandemic, we connected via Facebook, Zoom, and individual phone calls. In addition, our Daughters of the King, vestry, and clergy called everyone in our parish twice.
We also offered Community of Hope training on Zoom at St. Mark’s for those interested in integrating pastoral care into their ministries. Thirty-three graduates from across our diocese are now applying what they learned in 28 different ministries. We still meet once a month on Zoom to continue our studies and support one another. We held a regional retreat for Community of Hope chaplains in the Midwest, with the Reverend Barkley Thompson, the rector of St. Mark’s, as the keynote speaker. Recently, we again trained fifty-five Community of Hope chaplains from twenty churches in the Diocese of Arkansas.
Joanna. Joannaseibert.com https://www.joannaseibert.com/