It was toward the end of an amazing pilgrimage to Israel that we had the opportunity to stroll through the Garden of Gethsemane. That I can even say that seems surreal, as was so much of that experience.

Contemporary logic may reason, “well, it MAY have been the Garden of Gethsemane, but does anyone really know after 2000 years?” And the answer is…well, yes. The Mount of Olives is a literal hillside that was historically covered in olive trees, and the Garden of Gethsemane was definitely on the Mount of Olives (Gethsemane actually means “olive press”), And some of the olive trees are said to be among the oldest in the world.

And even beyond all historical and geographical evidence, there was just a feeling about the place….

While walking among those old olive trees, it wasn’t hard to imagine why Jesus used to like to come here to pray….

After eating the last meal they would share together this side of resurrection, Jesus and his friends took a walk to a place they had gone to many times before – to the garden. It was evening, and I can imagine moonlight shining through the fragile leaves on the sturdy branches of the old olive trees.

But it wasn’t like any other prayer time in the garden….this night Jesus would be praying for his life, and in a rare plea for help, also met the frailty of his very human friends who failed to stay awake and pray with him.

Three times Jesus asked the Father if there was any other way….if somehow he could be spared the physical, emotional and spiritual agony that was even then rushing in like a tidal wave. And three times, though he was pleading for another solution, he surrendered his will and submitted to the plan that he knew was the only way to save us.

It always strikes me hard that Jesus actually had a choice that night and the next several hours right up until he breathed his last breath on the cross, and the choice he made wasn’t to save himself….but instead, to save us.

As we move into the last days of Lent, there are so many things we can focus on, and for me, tonight, this is where my heart has landed. I know I can’t go back in time and stay awake with Jesus in the garden, but I can choose to abide with him today, and every day until his kingdom fully comes and I get to thank him face to face….

And who knows….maybe I’ll even get to pray with him in the garden someday after all. =)

Holding space for what’s to come and so very thankful for what has already been won!

So Much Love,

Shellie