Thought for the Day - Wednesday 23 September

Thought for the Day – Wednesday 23^rd September

‘They went to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be distressed and agitated. And he said to them, “I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake.” And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. He said, “Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.”’(Mark 14: 32-36)

 

If you are anything like me, some of your days during this whole covid-19 situation in which we find ourselves will be what we could call ‘up’ days and some will we ‘down’ days. 

It is strange though that on those ‘up’ days it seems like we just get on with things and give the day no mind, however, on our ‘down’ days it can be quite the reverse. On days when we are feeling a little low in light of the whole situation we are in we can end up beating ourselves up and find ourselves saying ‘I shouldn’t be feeling like this, I know it is wrong, but I just cannot help it!’ It seems that we then end up feeling guilty because we happen to be feeling low or miserable or depressed on that particular day. Indeed we may even feel a wee bit ashamed of ourselves because we are feeling the way we are on those ‘down’ days when we forget that we have many other ‘up’ days, when in actual fact we have nothing of which to be guilty or ashamed. 

Sometimes, I feel we don’t help in allaying these feelings in the Church because we do talk so much of rejoicing and praising and being glad that sometimes it can lead some to forget that folk can feel sorrowful and downhearted too - and that it is okay to feel such emotions - and that there is nothing wrong with such emotions for actually no one is immune to such emotions.

That is why the story of Gethsemane is such an important one and one we need to re-visit when we are feeling low because it reminds us that God in Jesus, Jesus who was after all ‘God with us’, actually himself identifies with human sorrow. 

Such is his sorrow that he says, “I am deeply grieved, even to death’. His soul is so overwhelmed with sorrow, he is in a deep, dark place, in a bleak moment sharing all those emotions we can often feel in our deep, dark moments or moments of sorrow or grief. He understands what grief and heartbreak and sorrow and feeling low, or miserable or depressed are all about and so as a result he can share those emotions and empathise with us when we are feeling such emotions.

Overwhelmingly though, this passage reminds us that because God, in Jesus, has experienced such emotions he will be want always to be close to us when we have such feelings and we need to remember he will do all he can to bring hope from our despair and laughter and joy from our tears. 

So, during our time of new restrictions do take time to enjoy your ‘up’ days but certainly do not feel guilty when you have a ‘down’ day for God knows how you are feeling, he will be holding you in his loving arms, he is with you and understands.

Prayer

 

Loving Lord, 

Hear us when we pray to you and wipe away our tears, anoint us with your presence and calm our fears. Hear us when we pray to you, hold our pain and anoint us with love beyond measure. Lord, walk with us and bring peace to our troubled souls. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.