4. Matthew 26
36 Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.
37 And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.
38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.
39 And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
Before coming to Plainfield, I had read the Bible, but never with understanding, and certainly never with compassion. Now to be here, learning and working, and going through the trials that church work can bring, I can read this with a tiny bit of understanding of what he went through. I certainly don’t know the full extent, as I can see that successively higher demonstrations bring equally higher degrees of resistance, but for what I know right now, I can feel for him.
To know that to go higher in Christian Science brings more to work through would be a deterrent to me, if not for the fact that Jesus proved that it is certain that we will prevail! I need not wish or hope, it has been proven. I was feeling a bit of the Wednesday resistance this morning, but after reading this it went away. For so long I felt similarly that “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death,” but that was when I had no Christian Science to lean upon. Now, if I am awake to it, there is always light and joy and so much to be grateful for, and in no small part that is because of what Christ Jesus endured and overcame.
I am grateful for this lesson, for his shining example, and grateful to be in a place where we can reach out to a world in need with what is real and true and proven to work. Thank you!