Heart of Bethlehem

I purposefully did not post last night, perhaps I thought sleep would help me to process what I have experienced in the last seven days. I find myself awake this morning staring at the night view of Bethlehem wondering "Can this even be real?".

Yesterday after attending worship we headed beneath the sanctuary for Arab coffee and conversation with the members there. A young man named Afiz  talked with me and some others the majority of the time. He is a local sous chef and devout in his faith. His brother who was perhaps 12 or so worked as a carpenter and showed us with great pride a beautiful cross he had made for the church. Afiz also introduced to us his younger cousin named India who had a young face but wise eyes. We laughed and bonded over our freckles as she has some decorating her face. She told me through giggles that she had never seen someone with so many freckles before. 

I told her what I was told as a child; each freckle is a kiss from an angel. I wish you could have seen the awe on her face as she gently touched her own freckles, no doubt wondering which angels had kissed her just as I had as a child. 

It felt sad to leave the fellowship especially after they welcomed me into their church home; but we had to keep moving forward. 

Later in the day we found ourselves at the Church of the Nativity. Once inside the building we waited in line. All were silent as worship was taking place in the building and bit by bit we inched closer to the site of Christ's birth. As we waited in line surrounded by icons and ornate decor; I couldn't help but wonder if this was how the people waited for Jesus in his time; quietly inching closer, careful not to disrupt those around you, all the while anticipation building for that first glimpse?  

As we arrived to the stair case that would take us beneath the church I couldn't have spoken if I wanted to. I couldn't see what they were looking at but a group of German pilgrims were standing in a half circle singing in their native tongue. The reverence of their practice worked it's way through our own pilgrimage and by the time we reached where they once stood, I was overcome with emotion. 

I looked to the right and there was the spot of Christ's birth marked by a star. I leaned down, kissed my hand and gently laid it on the star; then turning to the left I saw a manger. I knew only to repeat my act at the star. Tears streaming down my face we began to form our own semi circle and sing Silent Night. 

 

I wish you could have been there.

All around me people were moved. Many familiar faces and many new ones. I don't know their language and perhaps they don't know mine but in that moment as our eyes locked we were one body transformed by Jesus. 

Walking up the steps silence continued and as we entered a sanctuary I didn't know what else to do but sit and pray. I thanked God for the gift of a son and asked God to help me to spread the message and the Word in whatever way God means for me to. I then took out a piece of paper, wrote some of my heart onto it and placed it in a prayer box. 

Without realizing it I'd left part of my heart in Bethlehem just feet above the birth of a savior. 

Blessings and Peace, 

Caitlin