The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1914-10-17
BY WILLIAM r. ELLIS.


Gathsemane. Mark H:32-43.
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.
In this hour of Christendom's Geth-
semane, 1t Is appropriate that the mliloiiS
of the Sunday school should be called 10
larry for week in tina garden WnerS
suffering is sanctified. The torn, pruiseo
and bereaved hearts Of millions. wnicn
week ago were gay and careless. are now
turning to the memory OF the agony o.
the worlds Savir. in which ne sweat,
as 1t were, great drops OF DloOo. Inc
Garden of Gethsemane IS a common meet
ground today for this agonizing. warning
world. God grant that the spiritual sig
nificance of the experience may not be
missed.
Into the life of every individual. how
ever shallow our nature . comes an &c ex ::
Lila Wheeler Wilcox has beautifully
gathered this thought into poem:
''In golden YOUTH when seems the earth
A Summer land for singing mtrth;
When souls are glad and hearts are light.
And not a shadow turks in sight,
We do not know it, but there lies
Somewhere, yelled under evening skies.
A garden all must some time Sec
Somewhere lies our Gethsemane.
with joyous steps we go our ways.
Love lends halo to our days.
Light sorrows sail like clouds afar;
We laugh, and say how strong We are.
We hurry on, and hurrying, go
Close to the border of woe.
That waits for you and waits for me,
Forever waits Gethsemane.
Down shadowy lanes, across strange
streams,
Bridged over by our broken dreams.
Behind the misty caps of years.
Close to the great salt fount OF tears,
The garden lies; strive as you may,
You cannot miss 1t in your way.
All paths that have been. or snail De.
Pass somewhere through Gethsemane.
All those who journey soon or late
Must kneel alone in darkness there.
And battle with some fierce dispair.
God pity those who cannot say.
Not mine. but thine who only pray.
Let this cup pass and cannot see
The purpose in Gethsemane.
The Old Garden Itself.
Perhaps a word about the actual spot
where the agony Of Jesus transpired, Will
make more definite our thinking. The
sacred sites concerning which there can
be no doubt. The present Garden OF
Gethsemane. surrounded by a stone wall
and containing several venerable olive
trees-one of them surely more than a
thousand years old-is in the care of the
franciscan monks. There can be no
of the supreme Tragedy. it is within a
few yards of 1t. The spot is one OF the
most affecting upon earth, and the rev,
erent traveller goes ni5hef asaln t an9
garden to let the dust of the world be
swep from his spirit by breezes of MEM
DRY which blow through the old olive
trees.
Gray, as If they had won through pain
to peace, gnarled and twisted as
through suffering to strength, stand these
old olive trees which have witnessed so
much of history. Beneath these ancient
trees the flowers bloom in the Garden, IN
sweet symbolism OF the beauty and JOY
that have sprung UP In human life under
the shadow NJ the suffering sympathet,c
Saviour.
The old monk who lovingly tends the
tween churches seem when one comes to
Gethsemane-with whom I had conEenial
conversation, though each OF us could
gave me bits of the tree from broken
limbs. and these I have made into crosses
for friends. Often memory goes back to
of communion. To visit it is to know a
Christening, sanctifying. uplifting ex-
perience
Under the Trees OF Olivet.
All fine spirits love the out-of-doors. In
hours of stress and crisis they Instructive
ly turn to the woods and fields OF the
open skies. A true nature-lover was
Jesus: and he was accustomed to resort
TO sope of ct
meditation and communion with the
Father. Even Judas knew this spot to be
one of his haunts.
three closest friends and wendell his way
down to the sheep-gate at the northeast
ern corner Of the city, even as the traveller
may do today; and crossed the brook
Kedron at about the spot where the
lepers now sit: and penetrated into the
seclusion Of the grove. of from the main
highway.
Leaving behind even his closest friends
the Master went into the recesses OF the
woods alone. There Is no room for a
compaion in the ultimate experiences Of
life One nv " face tho vQri-
ties. Even our dearest must stay with
out the gate of Gethsemane when we are
summoned to enter. There, alone. be.
meath the trees, Jesus underwent the real
crisis of his passion.
When Self-Assurance Failed.
Most of us distrust the blatant person >
loud word of self-confidence and assur-
ance Of power. When Jesus intimated
that his disciples would fail him that
night, Peter impetuously protested that
he would stand fast, though all men fell
away. Inc very boastfulness of he ut
terances prepares us for the subsequent
events. The trouble with Peter was that
he was too self-reliant; too sure of Peter.
and not dependent enough on God. No
Christian may count on himself to keep
faithful; but only on God to keep faith
The words Of constancy were scarcely
cold on the lips of the three most loyal
disciples before they were overcome with
sleep. They could not watch while Jesus
enough to drive sleep from their eyes. in
even their Leaders darkest hour. Geth-
semane will not have delivered its full
message to aus, unless 1t humbles our
spiritual pride.
The Song and the Sweat.
Two dramatic extremes are in this
story. 1t begins with song, when they
had sung hymn they went out into the
Mount of Olives" Can we conceive of it: