Watch with me one hour

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Sunday Morning Session of the October 1995 Conference.

I remember this talk by Elder Holland about the sacrament! I think it was the first time I'd realized that the sacrament was the most important part of sacrament meeting. I guess I'd always assumed the talks were the most important part? But Elder Holland leaves no question about it:

Perhaps we do not always attach that kind of meaning to our weekly sacramental service. How “sacred” and how “holy” is it? Do we see it as our passover, remembrance of our safety and deliverance and redemption?

With so very much at stake, this ordinance commemorating our escape from the angel of darkness should be taken more seriously than it sometimes is. It should be a powerful, reverent, reflective moment. It should encourage spiritual feelings and impressions. As such it should not be rushed. It is not something to “get over” so that the real purpose of a sacrament meeting can be pursued. This is the real purpose of the meeting. And everything that is said or sung or prayed in those services should be consistent with the grandeur of this sacred ordinance.

I also remember Elder Holland's comparison of the sacrament with the time the apostles waited for Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. I've felt a special urgency to stay awake and focused during the sacrament ever since! 

We no longer include a supper with this ordinance, but it is a feast nevertheless. We can be fortified by it for whatever life requires of us, and in so doing we will be more compassionate to others along the way.

One request Christ made of his disciples on that night of deep anguish and grief was that they stand by him, stay with him in his hour of sorrow and pain. “Could ye not watch with me one hour?” he asked longingly. I think he asks that again of us, every Sabbath day when the emblems of his life are broken and blessed and passed. 

I definitely sympathize with Peter, James, and John when they DID fall asleep instead of watching with Him that one hour. There have been plenty of sacrament meetings when I've felt sorry afterwards for doing just that. And there are usually several…ahem…distractions in my row (even on my lap) in church during the sacrament. But I do love the sacrament. I've grown to love it more in the twenty-six years since this talk. And I'm coming to love it even more as I realize year by year how much it means to me personally!