According to the account, the man told his companions exactly what he was feeling:  “Then he said to them, “I am deeply grieved, even to death”  (Matt 26:38 NRSV)

It is hard to imagine that Jesus of Nazareth, whom we believe was the Son of God, could have felt such deep anguish.  How could he have felt what many of us have felt in the anxious stillness of loss.  As I write this I am thinking of those who lost precious family and friends in another senseless mass killing in Colorado.   Having gone through a sudden loss of my spouse, I know too well the stifling closeness that comes when the reality of loss comes crashing through demanding all one’s attention.

In my case, I found there were no shortcuts to grief recovery.  I attended a support group for months and was able to share my feelings in a protected setting with people who cared.

Jesus owned his feelings too when he spoke to his men that night.  It was not a support group of course, and his men kept falling asleep, not what I would want when I share my feelings with someone.

Even though those men were not any kind of a support group, it is a wonderful support to be able to realize that even in the empty void, there is a breath of life available from the Source of Life.  It is my prayer that if you are in the depth of loss that you will feel soon the life-giving support of the Lord.  It is at the same time shocking and comforting to realize that He went through the valley of death too.