disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took Peter, James and John along
with Him, and He began to be deeply distressed and troubled. “My
soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” He said to
them. “Stay here and keep watch.” (Mark 14: 32-34)
When I received the request to write a devotion on a scripture, I had
just spent a wonderful day observing a Quiet Day with the Daughters
of the King (DOK) group which sponsored the meeting. The Quiet Day
was led by Julia Dorsey Loomis, an Episcopal priest, who is a
communicant of All Saints. The scripture passage starts with the
action the DOK was to take on this meaningful Saturday. So the
group also went to a place to pray and Julia Dorsey Loomis led them
into this quiet day of prayer.
Not being a member of the DOK I went to All Saints to deliver my
wife to the meeting. I said that I would stay for the opening prayer
and then leave to take care of other issues on this Saturday morning.
On late Saturday afternoon, I was still sitting in the same chair I had
occupied early that morning! I was totally entranced with the prayers
of the meeting and how comforted I was at the outcome. It was hard
to believe that I stayed glued to my chair for about 6 hours without
the slightest idea of missing a word of our prayers. So I stayed there
and sort of kept the watch as Jesus did at Gethsemane.
But I was not deeply distressed and troubled as was Jesus. On the
contrary, I was overjoyed at the Quiet Day. It was a day which
everyone should experience in their lifetime to see how comforting
and meaningful prayer can be regardless of the specific reason for
prayer.
Nick van Laer
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