Episode 25: "The Birthplace" (+)

Dr. Pederson made sure to take us on one last trip before the holidays began. The destination was Bethlehem, Christ's birthplace in the gospels. Hark the hearld, man.

Here's the "us" I traveled with.
Toby, Pederson, Corina, Jeremy, Val and Mike.

Bethlehem is in the West Bank, a short hop over the wall dividing it from Israel. Going through to the other side was pretty unreal. There was grafitti along the other side of the barrier, with messages along the lines of "bridges not walls." From there we took some taxis to the Church of the Nativity. (My Arab driver was a Catholic, which I wasn't expecting to hear. Yet another preconception out the window.)

A slice of the church from the outside.

A slice from the inside. Gorgeous.

The majesty of the place was really unforgettable. The architecture of the building, as well as the people inside of it, was such a celebration of Christ. All of my early-year awkwardness over "feeling something" at sites like this was completely absent. The premise of the church itself, and the wonder that seemed to ignite the atmosphere because of it, was definitely enough for me to appreciate. Even if the traditional location of Christ's birth was up for debate, this place was the spiritual bullseye of where the J-Man was born. I'm honored to have set foot inside of it.

This is the spot below ground designated as the manger.
People would touch the spot where it's believed Jesus was born.

After checking out some of the underground rooms, as well as passing through an Indian church service being held at the sanctuary, we dipped out and went to a convent. A nun that Pederson knew welcomed us into the convent library, where we sat around a table and talked. Pederson's friend kept bringing us cakes, coffee and cookies. It was a warm spot to chill in.

At the convent library.

Before going, we checked out the convent's rooftop, where some of us goofed around.

Posing below Mother Mary.

Afterward, we got glimpses of a few churches around. One of the church sites was believed to be where Mary's milk splashed down while nursing baby Jesus. There's such an extreme reverence in that city. During our walks around, we ran into a small band of begging kids. I pulled out one coin to give to one of them, and all of them rushed to me, yelling and kind of clawing for one each. I raised my voice to calm them down, but there was no stopping the kind of fierce urgency that overcame the group. I thought of Jesus, trying to escape from crowds of people begging him to heal them. Understood a little more.

Later, one of the boys hit one of the girls. I got him to stop. It was a rough little moment.

Anyway, we eventually made off to do dinner for the day's conclusion. It was an annual Christmas dinner for the members of the ecumenical fraternity of Christians Pederson is part of. The main host was Bill, this hilarious, inviting, smiling bro who's probably in his sixties. I really came to respect his way of making the room glow with his good nature. The food he cooked was absolutely delicious. From the appetizer to the main course through the incredible desert, it was an exceptional dinner. My Early Church History teacher was there, so talking to her was cool. She's such a kind and genuine woman.

Leaning in to talk with Pederson. One of many dialogues.

Toward the end of the night, we sang Christmas carols, which Corina kind of lead. We had some funny moments finding out that there were British tunes versus American tunes, and overall it was a great time. It really felt like Christmas in that room--all of the friends and the smiles and the singing.

Corina digging in next to me. That food was a treat.

All those happy times and we were still weeks from Christmas. Hard to imagine a better holiday than what we got at that dinner, but I sure got one.

And so many good times in between.

Shalom,
Eric