Home
>
Spirituality
>
The Garden of Agony (Part 2)

The Garden of Agony (Part 2)

David understood the aguish only those who have chosen to cross the brook Kedron and experienced the Garden of Agony can ever fully know or comprehend. David was a great warrior. As a young shepherd boy, still a child, still wet behind the ears, barely out of puberty, he stood gallantly and fearlessly against the Philistine giant Goliath. When even the most seasoned soldier, veterans in military combat were afraid to stand up against this 9 foot Herculean giant, David with his slingshot in hand went bravely to what most would have considered certain death.

David had no fear of battle or death. He had waded into combat and as a soldier had often shed blood. He was a great statesman. As king, he had ruled with regal ability. He was a great poet and had sung songs that will live as long as literature lives, even forever. But when the time came for David to enter his garden, he became a different man. His heart in excruciating pain, his soul in utter agony, his spirit at an all time low as he experience his Garden of Agony. He desired desperately to run away from the torment and pain of a broken heart and the consequences of sins that finally caught up with him.

You remember how much David loved his son Absalom. He often made excuses for him and overlooked his misdeeds. But Absalom was evil in heart and deceitful. Eventually he organized a revolt against his father and many of those who had been David's closest friends and advisors joined Absalom's marching army and before long it seemed as tough the entire country had risen in rebellion against David. But, later we learn that Absalom was killed on the battlefield and this is the point of detour for David. The time of reckoning had arrived. David suddenly found himself in the midst of his garden.

He loved Absalom and his death hurt David to the core of his being. So much so that he cries out in utter agony, "O my son Absalom--my son, my son Absalom--if only I had died in your place! O Absalom my son, my son!" (II Samuel 18:33). A broken heart is hard to bear. Take the spirit out of a man and what is left? In this second garden, David sat, a broken man. He wanted to escape to get away from the hurt, get away from the pain, and get away from the torture. In this garden, David did not care about anything except freedom from the excruciating agony.

So it is with all of us who confront our garden; whether we are on our beds of affliction, behind prison walls, or just struggling to live in the midst of life's chaos and pettiness and brokenness. We know that when we get to Gethsemane, nothing else matters. When we are in our gardens, we don't worry about the things that use to occupy our attention. When we are in our gardens, money is of no value and our education fails us. When we get to our gardens everything is closed out and we are shut down because this garden has a way of driving us to our knees in sheer despair. This second garden makes us, like David and Job and others, question the very crust of our being.

There is something about Gethsemane that when we enter it, everything else ceases to matter. All ideas of possessions or power or knowledge dissipate into nothingness because our backs are to the wall. This garden makes us cry out, Why me Lord, why me? We are driven to the brink of sanity and must cry out to God.

Jesus is in that position. And if we listen we can hear Him say,

"My soul is exceedingly sorrowful even unto death. So what I want you to do Peter, James and John is to tarry with me for a little. You were with me on the mount of transfiguration; you were with me in the house of Jairus, now I want you to come tarry with me. My load is heavy, my back is to the wall, the very people I came to save have turned their backs on me, come tarry with me for a short while."

Well, you know what happened. Jesus prayed while the disciples slept. So Jesus, letting the disciples go on and sleep, went to His place and poured out His soul to His Father. Oh yes, there is something about Gethsemane that drives us to our knees. There is something about the intensity of our suffering that makes us realize that when we are in this second garden, we must pray for ourselves as we have never prayed before. For it is in the garden where we die and it is in this garden where we are resurrected in new power, new strength and new life; or we are truly doomed.

Rev. Saundra L. Washington, D.D., is an ordained clergywoman, veteran social worker, and Founder of AMEN Ministries. She is also the author of two coffee table books: Room Beneath the Snow: Poems that Preach and Negative Disturbances: Homilies that Teach which can be reviewed on her site. Her new book, Out of Deep Waters: My Grief Management Workbook, is expected to be available in July.

All are welcome to visit AMEN Ministries: Your Soul's Service Station for spiritual refreshing, soul edification or to browse our newly expanded mini shopping mall. http://www.clergyservices4u.org

Blessings to all!

professional maid services Deerfield ..

In The News:

iPhone and Android users can reduce battery drain and data usage by restricting Background App Refresh to Wi-Fi connections instead of mobile networks.

Scammers nearly stole an Apple account by exploiting the support system with authentic-looking tickets and phone calls, users can protect themselves with safety steps.

FoloToy restored sales of its AI teddy bear Kumma after a weeklong suspension following safety group findings of risky and inappropriate responses to children.

Threat intelligence firm Synthient uncovers one of the largest password exposures ever, prompting immediate security recommendations.

Viral video shared by Elon Musk shows Tesla's Optimus humanoid robots performing tasks from cooking to construction, garnering over 58.5 million views on social media.

Chinese hackers used Anthropic's Claude AI to launch autonomous cyberattacks on 30 organizations worldwide, marking a major shift in cybersecurity threats.

Apple's new Sleep Score feature gives you a rating for your nightly rest quality. Learn how to set it up on your Apple Watch and iPhone today.

Essential phone settings to enable before losing your device, including Find My network, location services and security features for iPhone and Android.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Cybersecurity research shows weak passwords remain a major threat, with simple patterns and number sequences putting millions of accounts at risk.

New Android malware BankBot YNRK silences phones, steals banking data and drains crypto wallets automatically. Learn how this advanced threat works.

FDA approves first human trial for Paradromics' brain-computer interface that could restore speech for paralyzed patients through neural technology.

New phishing platform QRR targets Microsoft 365 users across 1,000 domains in 90 countries. Learn how to spot fake login pages and protect your accounts.

OpenTable now uses AI to track your dining habits and share insights with restaurants. Learn what data they collect and how to protect your privacy.

Google's discontinued Nest thermostats still secretly upload home data to company servers despite losing smart features, raising serious privacy concerns.

New Android malware NGate steals NFC payment codes in real-time, allowing criminals to withdraw cash from ATMs without your card. Learn protection tips.

DoorDash confirms data breach exposing customer names, emails, addresses after social engineering attack. Learn how to protect yourself from scams.

Concerned about Google's AI scanning your Gmail? Learn how to disable Gemini features that access your emails, Drive files and Chat messages for privacy.

Google warns Android users about dangerous fake VPN apps hiding malware that steals passwords, banking details and personal data from phones and tablets.

Apple's digital passport feature lets iPhone users breeze through TSA checkpoints this holiday season using Digital ID technology at 250+ airports.

A new phishing scam targets family photos with fake "Cloud Storage Full" alerts. Criminals steal credit card information through fake sites. Learn protection tips.

South Korean scientists create ultra-thin fabric muscles that turn clothes into robotic assistants, lifting 33 pounds while weighing under half an ounce.

Archer Aviation has acquired Hawthorne Airport for $126M to launch an LA air taxi network ahead of the 2028 Olympics, featuring AI-powered eVTOL operations and next-gen aviation tech.

Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

Fake AI apps disguised as "ChatGPT" and "DALL·E" are flooding app stores with dangerous malware that steals data and monitors users without detection.

The Garden of Agony (Part 2)

Spirituality