by guest author Marian McKone

Our Gethsemane

I hear, deep inside me, an invitation to watch with Jesus in this garden,
our Gethsemane. 

This garden is where beauty and memory are found
In the face of death, death by empire and the established religion.
Death to the new way, all that is threatening.  Here we all are.

I know my call: Watch with Me. Stay awake with Me.
Fear arises. Watch!
I’m so tired.  Watch!
Like a pregnancy beyond the due date. Watch!
Like a birthing in transition. “I can’t!”  The birth is happening.
Watch!

Breathe! Push! When the time is ripe.
You will know the time.
Listen to the Beloved Mother whispering in your ear.
“You are brave. You are strong. You are loved.”

Do not sleep.
Yes, one you love is sweating drops of blood
The extreme of emotion.
And yet your call is WATCH.

Watch with Me.

This is the fourth reflection of our Lenten series: “Noticing our Longings” graciously provided by Marian McKone, a long term friend of our CloisterSeminars (see bio below).