In the Garden Together

Recently returning from a pilgrimage to Israel, many people have asked about the highlights of my journey. Several thoughts immediately emerge, yet this one currently continues to surface in my mind: visiting the Garden of Gethsemane.

I visited this beautiful space a few years ago on my first Holy Land visit, yet the experience this time was different. My first visit was more of a personal excursion, contemplating the events that took place and how they had impacted me. Sadly, because it was all about me, I missed out on an important gift, the experience of seeing the Garden through the eyes of a collected community.

Revisiting what I read in an insightful book, Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes, I was reminded that our default thinking in western and especially North American culture is too often that everything is all about me! We misread Scripture when we confuse application with meaning. The meaning of John 3:16, for example, is as it states, For God so loved the world… While we can apply this truth personally, the meaning is that He loved the whole world and all who believe in Him will not perish. It is a communal truth, yet we so often read with only me in mind. Back to the Garden…

At this visit to the Garden of Gethsemane, I found myself experiencing the fullness of community within the Garden. An older gentleman was visibly moved and weeping as a small group of believers sang the chorus, “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” Several women were seated on rocks or benches throughout the Garden holding fast to rosaries as they prayed. A young man was penning his thoughts in a leather-bound journal as he perhaps contemplated the significance surrounding him. Fellow pilgrims intently focused on the olive trees, the lavender bushes, and the creative beauty of the sacred, stopping to contemplate, to wonder, and to capture the moment to carry with them. We were all experiencing Jesus in the Garden personally, yet together, as well.

Reading Scripture and finding Jesus in our daily lives through the lens of community brings about a rich awareness that it’s not all about me; I am but a tiny speck in God’s masterfully created redemptive plan. This new outlook brings a sense of togetherness and kinship as well as a responsibility that we are all in this divinely chosen life together. As I acknowledge and treasure my personal relationship with Jesus, these days I am equally excited to focus on the bigger picture that includes the world that God so loved.