The Savior’s Sacred Grove
One of my favorite things to do is talk to youth groups about “sacred groves.” “Sacred groves” are places where we turn to Heavenly Father in prayer for peace and revelation. We talk about my “sacred groves.” Sitting on my piano bench with the keys beneath my fingers. Quiet car rides with the radio off. Beneath the soft drum of a warm shower.
We talk about Moses’, Nephi’s, Enos’, the brother of Jared’s, and, of course, Joseph Smith’s sacred groves. We talk about their "sacred groves." I love hearing about the places they connect with God.
Then we talk about our Savior’s.
On the night before the Savior’s crucifixion, after Jesus washed the feet of his friends, after they ate the Passover meal, after he instituted the sacrament, after they sang the Hallel, Jesus visits his “sacred grove.”
The Mount of Olives is unmistakably sacred because of the infinite love displayed there, but I like to think that it was our Savior’s “sacred grove” long before that Thursday night.
“And he came out, and went, as he was wont to the Mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him” (Luke 22:49).
Wont (without an apostrophe) isn’t a word we are used to seeing. It means accustomed. This tells us that going to the Mount of Olives was a habit, a routine, a ritual. A refuge. Isn’t it beautiful to think that he chose his “sacred grove” as the location he would give us the greatest gift we will ever receive?
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