Bethlehem--An Uncertain Journey

The startling picture you see to the right is a part of a labyrinth of wire, iron gates, and concrete separating Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Bethlehem is on the West Bank, under the control of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Our guide in Israel, an ardent Zionist (and for some good reason--he still carries shrapnel in his body from a suicide bomber in Jerusalem in 2002), discouraged us from going to Bethlehem since it could be dangerous. Four out of our group of 19 decided to go anyway, including Kathy and me.

It was a little disconcerting to be let off outside a concrete bunker and told we would be met on the other side by our Bethelhem guide. There was no one to guide us through the maze of security that was daunting for an Australian couple and a Minnesota couple. There was a U.S. security warning not to visit areas under Palestianian authority. But how many times would we be within sight of Bethlehem?

We went, our hearts a bit in our throats. Walking through the security system only heightened our anxiety.

Today I think of a much younger couple--a family from Nazareth who made a much harder journey to Bethlehem. There was no dispute between Israelis and Palestianians, but there was political and military unrest--so much so that Caesar Augustus demanded that everyone return to their town of origin to be counted in a census.

This young couple found no comfortable hotel or guides waiting to show them the sights. They worried about the impending birth of their baby. They would finally find shelter amongst animals, and a baby would be placed in a feeding trough. Angels sang that night. Shepherds raced to see the wonder and told the story. It was the beginning of a life that would change the course of the world. And it began with an uncertain journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem.

Kathy's and my uncertain journey ended gloriously. Surely this journey would not give birth to a child or even to a new angel song, but it was a day that helped our spirits soar in the truth of the Christ child. Our guide opened up the scriptures in Bethlehem. We looked over Shepherds' Field which lay between Bethlehem and Jerusalem--a place where angels could have sung to those keeping watch over their flock by night. We climbed many steps up to the top of a hill where Jesus surely could have been born. We enjoyed the quiet faith and the hope offered to us by a guide who assured us that 95% of Israelis and Palestinians simply want to live in peace with one another. And we enjoyed the shop of a Palestinian Christian who offered us a soft drink and a falafel while we bargained for olive wood carvings--purchases we will cherish forever.

The last leg of our uncertain journey concluded at the wire/iron/concrete structure where it began. The four of us read every sign to make sure we followed the correct procedures--and still almost went through the wrong door! I am sure that we were on video the whole time, guards chuckling at our naivete. With nary a problem they let us back into Israel.

It was an uncertain journey with a blessed end. And all because an uncertain journey 2000 years earlier has blessed the world.