One of my favorite books to reread, to pick up and begin again, is The Odyssey. The amazing journey of a long journey home. Sometimes I just open to a page and begin again in the middle… An Ancient Greek poet named Homer wrote it, 700 years before the birth of Christ. I can still recall the wonderful first line; I can recite it in Ancient Greek, (I can…) or in English- “Tell me Muse, of that many traveled man…”
I, like Odysseus, Homer's hero in the Odyssey, am a many traveled man… But the prompt asked about my longest journey… It's the longest because each year I take it again in my heart, through my faith - to Bethlehem.
In 1992, after the first Gulf War, I led a group of pilgrims from Saint Matthew on my very first trip to the Holy Land. Anticipation was sky high that February. We were set to go the year before, but the War had forced a cancellation. I would go on to lead two other Pilgrimages to the Holy Land, in 1995 and 1998 but the first one was, as you can imagine, more than I ever expected. Let’s take that one together… today. Come on…
I got you a window seat. We leave from JFK and fly into Athens first. Then on to Tel Aviv. We traveled by bus that first time to the Galilee; and after three wonderful days there… on to Jerusalem and our planned day trip to Bethlehem.
We all returned to Jerusalem that evening and explored for five more wonderful days- then to the Dead Sea and Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Cana and Nazareth before our journey home; but this tale, being shared in mid December of 2024, is only meant to be about Bethlehem. Let’s go…. That’s our destination.
Bethlehem! “House of Bread”, in Hebrew, “House of Meat”, in Arabic. It reflects the interconnectedness of many societies… farmers (bread), and shepherds (meat); interesting implications, complications and cooperations for societies and ethnic groups side by side. Worrisome images of the brothers Cain (the farmer) and Abel (the shepherd) still prevail. The Palestinian Police station is located these days in Manger Square. Twenty-five thousand people now, not “O Little Town…” as Phillips Brooks wrote when he visited in 1865. Even smaller, probably when that first Christmas occurred. Scholars think, perhaps a thousand people.
In manger Square, sits the Church of the Nativity. Floor mosaics from the fourth century. Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox and Franciscans share spaces in the sanctuary. Lets buy a candle from this hooded Armenian Priest and light a tapir in the sanctuary for a prayer for someone we miss…
Downstairs into the original grotto, I was last in that first time, and stood on the step of the threshold. Theo, our guide, asked “Reverend Carter” to “lead us in a prayer” after we had sung Silent Night together. I thanked him later- it was a genuine surprise. I hadn’t known it could be so meaningful to be asked for a favor unexpectedly. Maybe you’ll do me a favor today and silently sing a line or three from Silent Night at the end of this story… Please? As a favor to me..
I reflected on that first visit to Bethlehem in my hotel room that evening and wrote in my journal. Rereading that and the other journals has reminded me how journeys can reshape our faith, our thoughts and, most importantly, lead us to new insights and experiences. It doesn’t matter how far the journey actually is in miles sometimes…
We’re off! We will go past the Old Walled City of Jerusalem together, past St Stephen’s Gate, the Shepherds Fields, and on to Bethlehem, just 5 miles away. It’s the path the Wise Men took when Herod and his scholars sent them to Bethlehem to find the newborn King. Saint Matthew tells that story in his Gospel.
The bustle in the Old Walled City streets will be matched by the shoppers in the Bethlehem Olive Wood Carving Store. Bethlehem craftsmen have been carving mementos since the Crusades. Its our first stop, “to avoid the crowds”. It’s like a penny candy store with a myriad of choices, from pennies to prohibitive. I got a manger and carved olive wood figures to give to Ryan, our son, for his family, and half dozen little camels that still show up in our home in various places at Christmas. What olive wood remembrance would you like?
Happily, Manger Square was not the zoo I was expecting. There were only 2 other groups in the Church with us. Today it’s better, just you and I are here.
Bending down is required to enter the low doorway… and it is simply an experience, to bend over humbly to enter the nave. The
4th century plan was to keep horses and camels and mounted soldiers out. The Prince of Peace…
See - inside It’s a lovely worshipful space, with an ancient mosaic floor, also some old painted, and mosaic murals on the walls. See the one with Kings riding Camels there? When the Persians invaded they left this church standing, because that 4th century mural of the Three Magi looked like them. True story! There are dark wood pews, benches, altars, candles and a sense of
sanctity.
We are inside The Church of the Nativity, erected where tradition, and Saint Helena, Constantine’s Mother, (who ordered it built when she visited here in 332), says it is the location of the stabled animal’s cave that sheltered Mary and Joseph as “the time came for her to be delivered” as Saint Luke wrote in his Gospel.
As we walk downstairs on the curved stone staircase you will see the rock grotto. Under a small Altar there, a fourteen pointed silver star is affixed to the spot on the floor of the cave, that served as the stable, where tradition says the manger sat. A stone manger, many believe (wood was at a premium). A stone manger, which I like to think Joseph filled with straw. Jesus was born here. In Bethlehem. Here.
I’m so happy to have been there. And I’m so happy to be here with you today. I return here each December, to the Bethlehem of my heart. As Odysseus finally returned home to Ithaca and Penelope and Telemachus… I journey each December to the Bethlehem of my memories and my heart and home with Ruth and Ryan and his family. Happy to have you along today.
Safe home…
Pastor William Carter
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