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Offered in devotion and love to My Lord in gratefulness
for his sacrifice and many blessings.

And He Went Away To Pray
By Linda A. Copp

And He went away to pray 
in order the scriptures be fulfilled
the prophecies come to pass.

He the Son of God, born the Son of Man, 
the Messiah, the Savior,
preordained, willed 
by His Father, Our Father 
to teach, to preach His Holy Word, 
that we might heed and understand ...
Went forth this night,
  unto the Mount of Olivet.
There to pray, meditate and reflect.

And so, it came to pass that 
He, Jesus, taking his disciples,
Peter, John and James with Him 
came unto, the place, 
the Garden called Gethsemane.
Where upon Jesus spoke to the three ...

"My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death:
tarry ye here and watch with me."
King James Holy Bible, Gospel of St. Matthew, Chapter 26, 
Verse 38.

So, saying this, He prostrated himself 
and prayed to His Holy Father
that he might prepare himself
for that which was to come,
His Crucifixion.

His path to walk, "The Way of The Cross."
An agony so immense, so profound, 
so embodied, entwined,
within the two confines, 
the physical and the spiritual, 
the body and the soul,
that its very depths were
and are, beyond our total comprehension
but, were never beyond His.

"Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me:
nevertheless not as I will, but, as thou wilt."
King James Holy Bible, Gospel of St. Matthew, Chapter 26, 
Verse 39.

Rising from these meditations 
and returning to his disciples 
He found them sleeping. 

"Could you not then watch one hour with me? 
King James Holy Bible, Gospel of St. Matthew, Chapter 26, 
Verse 40.
Watch and pray that you might not enter into temptation. 
The spirit is willing but, the flesh is weak."
King James Holy Bible, Gospel of St. Matthew, Chapter 26, 
Verse 41.

And so, saying He returned to the Garden 
for the second time and prayed 
to His Father knowing what was to be

Agony.

He to be scourged, beaten, mocked,
humiliated, crucified and defiled,
 the unbearable endured unto death.

His brow drenched in the 
very sweat of our inhumanities.
The pain of flesh, His flesh to be torn,
struck, spat upon, 
beaten, ripped and nailed.
Pounded onto, into the pulp 
of a still beating, breaking heart.
And all this suffered 
with a heartache so great,
so deep, that none 
and no other could endure.

His blood dripping, spilling down, 
a splattered, blood drenched cross.
And all borne  for our repentance,
this the only Way
 that we might gain everlasting life!

And so, Jesus knowing all this
prayed to His Father:

"My Father if this cup cannot pass away, unless I drink it, Thy will be done!" 
King James Holy Bible, Gospel of St. Matthew, Chapter 26, 
Verse 42.

He returned again to the disciples 
to find them sleeping 
and went away to pray
for the third and final time ALONE.
Repeating these words to HIS Father:

"My Father if this cup cannot pass away, unless I drink it, Thy will be done!" 
King James Holy Bible, Gospel of St. Matthew, Chapter 26, 
Verse 42.

And thus said, His very essence now, spent
having made ready for His destiny, 
that for which he had been born
and would soon be delivered was at hand.

Yes ALL THIS ...
 His Death, His Resurrection,
the Salvation of mankind, 
eternal life of the immortal soul, 
attained, bought and paid for 
with His precious blood and this, 
His incredible gift of sacrifice and LOVE. 
The Way of The Cross.

And He in Gethsemane, heartbroken,
torn and suffering is what tortures me, 
that we, not one of us could stay awake
and watch when he watched ... 
And wait as he waited.

But NO, we did not!  
He waited and watched Alone! 
And gave it all up to His Father
that we might Live  again eternally.

And so, though He wept this man, 
this son of God
as we might weep.
And He bled this son of God 
as we might bleed.
 He died this son of God
as we shall never die.
For though he endured as humanity
so, too did He know as Christ.
So, too was He capable of Love 
beyond all loves, and therefore hurts, wounds, beyond all wounds.
And still, He suffered all this, 
that He knew,
as only He will Ever Know,
 for Our Salvation! 

And Yet,  forgave US  
in His Infinite Love,
His Humanity, 
All Our Selfish Inhumanity!

By Linda A. Copp
July 25, 1974
Adapted and Revised March 31, 2001