Left alone in gethsemane

"Gethsemane" by Mary Oliver

The grass never sleeps.

Or the roses.

Nor does the lily have a secret eye that shuts until morning.

Jesus said, wait with me. But the disciples slept.

The cricket has such splendid fringe on its feet,

and it sings, have you noticed, with its whole body,

and heaven knows if it ever sleeps.

Jesus said, wait with me. And maybe the stars did,

maybe the wind wound itself into a silver tree, and didn’t move, maybe

the lake far away, where once he walked as on a

blue pavement,

lay still and waited, wild awake.

Oh the dear bodies, slumped and eye-shut, that could not

keep that vigil, how they must have wept,

so utterly human, knowing this too

must be a part of the story.

--

On the day of his betrayal, Jesus went to a garden to pray and despite asking his friends to stay awake with him, they fell asleep. It appears he was left alone to wrestle with what was to come; but, the poet Mary Oliver makes us wonder if maybe in the absence of his friends, Jesus found much-needed Presence in the "wild awake"-ness of nature.

What invitation do you hear in these words and in this image of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane?

--

God of Gethsemane, teach us how to rest and how to be wild awake with those who are facing their darkest hour.

Art: “Christ in Gethsemane”, by Michael D. O’Brien.