Lessons from Gethsemane | John T Krotec

“Sometimes all you need to do is pray.” Anonymous

To many these days, it feels like we have been betrayed. A deadly virus has been unleashed upon the world. People are dying by the tens of thousands, economies are in serious turmoil, unemployment is skyrocketing while leaders point fingers and place blame. Animosities between counties will get us nowhere. Now, more than ever, we need each other.

While ‘social-distancing’ may help to stop the spread of this dangerous contagion, it cannot heal what really ails humanity. Based on the current state of human civilization, it seems many people have moved away from having a reverence for anything sacred. I believe prayer is a viable solution for our current situation. It is an act of reverence that can truly heal. At the very least, it can bring back some hope.

Perhaps, the greatest story of betrayal and what to do with it can found in the Bible. The story has it, shortly after the Last Supper, overwhelming sadness fell over Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus knew he was going to be betrayed by one of his own followers, so he went into the garden to pray, to plead with God for some answers. He brought along three of his apostles, Peter, James, and John. When they reached the garden, Jesus dropped to his knees in anguish and asked them to stay awake with him for prayer; however, they quickly fell asleep.

We know the end of the story. Jesus could not stop his own death. Soon after, he would be crucified by the local authorities for blasphemy against the religious laws of the land. It was a prophecy that had to be fulfilled. To me, the sleeping apostles are a perfect example of what seems to have befallen many people today. “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:41(KJV)

Just like Jesus, we all have a purpose and none of us can stop our own deaths. It is an event that will happen to every single living human being on our planet. In this time of major uncertainty and economic turmoil, perhaps we can digger a little deeper, introspect for comforting solutions to our current dilemma. Has humankind fallen asleep spiritually? Maybe, we have taken things for granted and forgotten what really matters. Without passing any judgment, if we truly desire more meaningful lives then why are we constantly beckoned by seemingly worthless distractions? Is our ‘engineered’ bliss just artificial relief from being human, from seeking a connection to something more sacred than the material things we seem to incessantly chase?

With respect to the pandemic, it appears people are questioning many things these days. The viral outbreak has shed some serious light on how we have been conducting business, how we look at virtues and values, how we are living our own lives. Depending how you look at it (fortunately or unfortunately), this moment in world history seems like a great time for us to consider sacred things when it appears the ways of the world and our own ways might be betraying us. Life is simple, isn’t it? It does not require complex, highly intellectualized, aestheticized principles nor technological distractions to live it. Watching television and reading social media, it seems like many people are seeking something more than just what they see these days.

The spread of COVID-19 is a stark reminder that we are all equal, borderless, that we have no control over the forces of nature, something which is more powerful than any of us and is indiscriminate. So, why not? What do we have to lose? Prayer can be a beautiful thing these days, a way to gain some solace from the fears we are feeling. Maybe, finding some hope can deliver us from the pains of being human. Maybe, it will sooth our feelings of betrayal. At the very least, we might learn from the Biblical account of Jesus’ pleading in Gethsemane, something we cannot escape. Prayers matters. They can bring real freedom. They could even help business.