day one, two and three moments

March 01, 02, 03

Gethsemane has a powerful effect on me ………

I am stunned by a God who can break down like me,
a God pleading and almost losing control

I am assaulted and unsettled by Christ’s agony in the Garden
it is much easier to rush pass this and rejoice in the
“not my will but yours”
but
there is blood oozing from the pores of this man Jesus
He is in agony
deep trauma takes place in the garden
he is terribly terribly alone

the garden was a familiar place to Jesus
(Luke 22:39 …………as was his custom)
the olive trees heavy with fruit
during harvest season these olives are crushed until the oils are released

this is a place of crushing

Jesus will soon have his breath pressed from him

but this night he is alone …….

His friends sleep

a lost and dying world totally ignorant of his struggle
unaware of the price soon to be paid

consumed by sorrow

this man Jesus is deeply grieved
to the point of death
(Mark 1:34)

God struggling with a pain that threatens to undo him
a pain that causes his body to shake

God smothering in sadness

waves of emotion crash into Jesus
threatening to drown him

he mourns
while life goes on around him

for the first and only time
he asks for help
from his friends

he asks for so little
yet they cannot give it

they cannot stay awake for one hour

twice he asks
twice they fall asleep

and he is left with his father
it is only his father who is awake
only his father shares the impact of his lonely pain

and what is my role in his loneliness
how often have I fallen asleep

he asks so little of me
simply to love him

in my spirit this night
I offer him a shoulder
upon which to weep

as I choose to remain
and keep watch