Dearest One, 

Just minutes ago I opened the front closet where our mail spills when the postman lets it fall from his grip. A collection of flier sheets and several bills remain where they scattered upon contact with my speckled tile floor. I left them there. I have something to write. And though I've never called you "dearest one" (It can come off patronizing), ...you are dear. Jesus is reminding me today just how precious we are to Him. 

My mind has been returning to Jerusalem as of late. It's because Easter is mere days away, I suppose. Maybe it's because a friend who just returned from the Holy City has flooded Facebook with pictures, taking me back. Whatever the case, Jerusalem is on my mind. 

  
  

The place I'm thinking of most though, is a modest grove of olive trees better known as the Garden of Gethsamane. This garden, I remember, almost seemed out of place, surrounded by the bustling city of Jerusalem. Nothing but a wall separates a sidewalk encircling the garden from the busy street on the other side. And yet it was peaceful. It was simple, not ornate like one might imagine a garden-especially one that boasts being the place where Jesus prayed as he was arrested. 

  

Gethsamane is quietly dotted with small bunches of purple and deep pink blooms, but the hard dry ground is more held together by gnarly twisted trunks of the olive tree. Their branches, covered in lush green, seem to reach out in umbrella fashion as if to provide shade and shelter from the elements. Carbon dating puts several of these ancient beings at just seventy years short of a thousand years old. These old trees speak of rest. 

  

The olive branch is a symbol of peace, you know. 

Oh the irony that our Lord sweat drops of blood in this garden.  The night he prayed there must have been anything but peaceful.  Right thereafter he allowed himself to be arrested, choosing death, a shameful excruciating death on a cross. 

The punishment we earned, He took upon Himself. The punishment He freely took, brought us peace. 

  

We have peace in Him

A peace, who with gracious boughs, calms us with a lullaby 

This peace found in outstretched arms reminds us of God's provision.  

It's important that you know that here in this week where responsibilities and anxieties duke it our for first place in your crowded heart. 

We have a place of rest right smack in the middle of busy. 

You may be up to your ears in Easter plans; preparing to entertain company. Maybe you have new Easter dresses or little shoes to buy. Upcoming church activities might be occupying a great deal of your time in the days to come. Our church will be stuffing eggs every day this week. We're shooting for twenty-thousand candy-filled eggs. And then there are school parties and events that will have some of us hopping from store to store. 

It's possible too that Easter has barely crossed your mind. Work or family demands dominate every waking hour. If you're like me, the stress of to-do's creep into your dreams at night. Trouble doesn't take time off for Easter or any other special day. The holidays actually invite stress. 

With Easter right around the corner some of us face harrowing test results, loneliness, loss, defeat and broken relationships that threaten to swallow us up. 

We're overcome with doing. We're weary from worry. And yet there's a in the midst of toil and trouble that waits for us. 

As the disciples were surrounded by darkness that night in the garden Jesus wasn't far away

Luke 22:41 

He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed.

He's just a stone's throw away. 

Though your hours be consumed, there's rest available, even in the rush. Come to the garden, an inner sanctuary. You'll find the peace you're searching for. 

  A stone's throw away

No matter the dark place you find yourself in He promises the light of His presence. 

Draw near to God and He will come near to you. James 4:8

Peace is just a stone's throw away. 

Jesus prayed in the garden

I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 

John 17:23