My Faith Is My Anchor

A damaged boat anchor spurred Carol Sbordon Bannon to reflect on the anchor in her own life: her faith.

This summer we were caught off guard when our boat's anchor was damaged without our knowledge. How did we discover this? While moored in a quiet inlet, enjoying the sunset with a cocktail on the back of our boat, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Everything seemed perfect in fact. It was so quiet; our boat was gently rocking while we watched seagulls diving for food. Off in the distance we observed sailboats billowing out as they skimmed over the horizon. It wasn’t until my husband got up to refill our glasses that he noticed the rocky shoreline was only a few feet away from our boat! We had been drifting closer and closer to catastrophe without even noticing.

He quickly restarted the engines, pulled up our anchor and motored away before any damage was done. Later we learned the anchor was slightly damaged on one side, causing it to slide along the ocean floor instead of holding firm.

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But this incident made me think of my own anchor—that something that keeps me firmly moored in one place. We all have something that holds us together. For some, it is their career; for others it is raising a family together; for still others it could be working to achieve fame, building a business, being active in their community.

Identifying my anchor was easy … it is my Catholic faith.

There have been times over the many years of marriage, raising children, and overseeing grandchildren when my anchor appeared to be in need of repair. Entire weeks were spent worrying about how to find money to pay bills, manage six erratic schedules, and keep everyone happy. Bouncing from one apparent catastrophe to the next, though, always landed me in the same place: in front of Him in prayer.

I trusted God every time, that He would find the way for me—and in hindsight, I see that He always did.

And the anger that many times appeared out of nowhere. Why don’t they open the dishwasher and put their dishes in? How can they walk out of a room and leave the television on? Who besides me knows how to fold clothes I would ask myself, because the answer always seemed to be "no one"! One of my biggest irritants was how folded clothes left on their respective beds ended up on the floor the next day.

Turning to the Holy Spirit for patience, I turned away and left the clothes on the floor. In fact, my favorite prayer I say every morning to this day is:

Holy Spirit, please give me the words to think, to say and to leave unsaid for the betterment of Your kingdom, so I can do Your Will, and to help others come to know you. Amen

No one is immune to sorrow in this life either. The pain mothers feel when their child is disliked due to something out of their control is real. Utter shock when spouses return home from work early ... too early … with the news they have been released from employment. Conditions affecting family members that cannot be kissed away are heart-wrenching, not to mention physically exhausting. Watching parents and siblings age and die requires great reservoirs of strength.

We Catholic mothers need God as our anchor. Evaluate through prayer whether or not your anchor is still in good shape. Is it bent in any way from the tossing and turning of life? Have you ignored it, causing it to become a bit rusty and discolored with age? Are you sliding along life, going to Mass once a week, assuming your anchor is going to hold you firm when something comes up? Do you throw your anchor out only when life gets messy, ignoring it when all is well?

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I trusted God every time, that He would find the way for me—and in hindsight, I see that He always did. #CatholicMom

If not for my faith, my anchor, I truly don’t know how I stayed upright, let alone breathing during these and other moments but I did because He was with me through it all. His Sacraments strengthen me. His Words give me hope. God held firmly onto me throughout all these years and continues to do so. I believe Blessed Solanus Casey when he said:

Worry is a weakness from which very few of us are entirely free. We must be on guard against this most insidious enemy of our peace of soul. Instead, let us foster confidence in God, and thank Him ahead of time for whatever He chooses to send us.

God is my anchor and always will be. Whatever He sends me, I know He will hold me firmly by His side. I value my anchor above all else.

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