The Shepherds Field and Manger Square

An epic day! First, both Bishop Harris and I were on the bus. I'm fully recovered, she not quite, but almost. Thanks to Lester Hartmann, M.D.'s prescription of Tamiflu I really am flu-free. (We should talk about the miracle drug called Tamiflu...readily available to you. Take immediately, at first onset of flu symptoms, and it attacks the virus itself, thereby getting one well very soon.)

A sticker, one of many, stuck to the Palestinian side of the "security" wall

We began the day by taking the bus a short distance, but it took nearly 45 minutes, to Bethlehem; 4 miles away from our hotel. But, given Jerusalem traffic, and even more, the "security wall" which the Israeli government erected in the middle of the town, it's not especially easy to get to. In fact, it's arduous, and depressing. Bethlehem, at the turn of the 20th century was nearly 90% Christian/Palestinian. Now, not quite a century later it's less than 3% Christian. What happened to the Christians? They fled, emigrated to the United States, or other places where walls are not erected. Today, Bethlehem is a town of Palestinian Muslims whose economy is dependent upon the massive numbers of Christian pilgrims who make their way to Manger Square, the Church of the Nativity, and St. Catherine's Church. Their poverty is starkly obvious: the wall separates them, keeps them from their workplaces and their fields, and creates a kind of island in which they are trapped, save for those who are old enough or sick enough to get permits to leave and enter the state of Israel. Our first stop wasn't Manger Square, however, it was a grotto in what is known as the Shepherds Field, the place where tradition says the angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds and announced the birth of our Lord.

It's utterly believable...even the most jaded cynic of Biblical and archeological scholarship would be hard-pressed not to see the strong likelihood that shepherds would have lived there, and that in that first century, directly in front of them, to the west, would have been another cave in which Jesus could well have been born. We sang Christmas carols in a chapel, descended stone steps into a cave, and prayed.

From there we had time to shop at a Palestinian Craft Cooperative (my colleagues lucked out on very cool gifts...and they ship to the US, besides!). Anybody need an olive wood creche set? We walked a few yards from the shop to a sit-down lunch at a local Palestinian-owned/run place, Ruth's Field Restaurant. Ruth, the owner, does all the cooking, along with her family. Outstanding food.

Then it was back onto the bus for the trip up the hill to Manger Square. Did you know that today is Christmas? Yes, that's right, 18 January is Christmas. At least it is for Armenian Christians. The place was decked out, oriental carpets were festooned on every floor surface, and there were workers busily preparing for tonight's festivities with the Patriarch. The church itself is impressive enough, but to get to the "manger" one descends a set of stone steps, again into a grotto, and there a silver star marks the spot. We venerated the spot, and then Iyad took us into a corner. Pat Hitchcock read the nativity story and we sang O Little Town of Bethlehem. And Christmas does indeed come once more.

We got back to the hotel in time to be with each other, to talk and to listen, and to reflect on what each of us has seen and felt the last couple of days. So important to do this, and so moving to hear my fellow pilgrims speak about what has been moving and good, as well as what's been hard and challenging. After supper we surprised Bishop Harris with a little party to celebrate her 10th anniversary of episcopacy. Cake and champagne and flowers. A perfect ending to a perfect day.