"...and there was no one left to speak for me."

                                                               Martin Niemoller

Sometimes I just get so tired. Up is down and wrong is right. Our society demands transparency, but works in the shadows. We are afraid to speak our minds, but call ourselves the “land of the free.” Have we forgotten what freedom really looks like? As long as we allow ourselves to be threatened into silence, into inaction, freedom eludes us. The more rights we give away, the fewer we retain.

Is something going wrong in your world? Speak up! Is someone being unjustly persecuted? Give your support! There is no stronger feeling of loneliness than feeling that everyone is arrayed against you.

John Wesley, the father of the Methodist Church, died an Anglican. His criticisms of the Anglican Church were meant to bring reform, not split the church. This culture of dissent is no longer valued in our world. We can only embrace those with the same ideas, shunning any hint of criticism or disagreement. When did it become okay to drive away those with opposing views? When did it become acceptable to silence the opposition?

Adolph Hitler gained control over the legislative and executive branches of the German government and systematically began destroying his opposition. His resulting dictatorship attempted to eliminate the Jewish race from the face of the earth. Attempts to reign in Hitler’s power, such as Operation Valkyrie, resulted in Hitler’s savage reprisals, including the death of over 4,800 people, among them Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

As we become complacent and emasculated, the Devil is at work in our world. I know it is so “unenlightened” to believe in the Devil, but I believe he is alive and well, in our homes, in our schools, in our government, and even in our churches. All across the world people are rejoicing that we have lost our voice, that we have lost our fire.

Bad things are happening, and we have no response. Bad things happened to Joseph, back in the days of the Old Testament. He was thrown into a well by his jealous brothers and sold into slavery. Through his dependence on God he was able to make the best of his situation, ultimately becoming so powerful that he was able to save his family and his nation from famine. How easy would it have been for him to ignore their requests for food? How easy would it have been to act like he did not recognize his brothers? Genesis reveals that Joseph knew that God could take the bad actions of Joseph’s family and turn it around and turn it into something good. “You intended evil against me, but God intended it for good...” Genesis 50:20.

God is working through you, and God is working through me. We have to take a stand and fight back against the evil in our world. God will stand by us, but we can’t sit idly by. If we do, we stand to lose our chance. We stand to allow the evil to grow and fester. We stand to let evil perpetuate.

Martin Niemoller was a German theologian and a contemporary of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The German church received much criticism for failing to speak out against Hitler, and by default, allowing the extermination of over six million Jewish people. Niemoller was one of the few who spoke out against Hitler and this landed him in a Nazi concentration camp for seven years. Upon his release he penned the following verses:

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out -
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out -
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out -
Because I was not a Jew.

And then they came for me -
and there was no one left to speak for me.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, "Our lives begin to end the day we are silent about the things that matter."  If we give up our voice, we risk losing it for all time. Stand up for injustice. Speak the truth. Let your light shine!

"And the Word was made flesh"...The Church of the Nativity

After lunch on March 9, 2014 we headed to the Church of the Nativity. This is one of the oldest Christians structures. After the Edict of Milan, in 313 AD, Christians emerged from the shadows and began to freely identify their holy sites. In 326, Helena, the mother of Constantine, took a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. She identified three main holy sites "mystical grottoes" where she ordered basilicas be constructed. These were sites that had been revered since the early days of Christianity and included the Church of the Nativity.

A portion of the mosaic floor from the original basilica has been exposed.

The original structure, built by Constantine in the 4th century AD, was enlarged and embellished by Emperor Justinian in the 6th century AD, after it was damaged by rebellious Samaritans. Over time, the building was expanded by the addition of chapels and monasteries. On the south side are the churches and monasteries belonging to the Armenian and Greek Orthodox churches. The Franciscans are located at the northern end. The facade at one time was decorated with a colorful mosaic, which saved the church from destruction in 614 AD when almost all the structures in the Holy Land were destroyed by Persian invaders. Upon seeing the depiction of the magi from Persia, the Persians let the church stand, out of respect for their ancestors.

Some 300 years later, the church again was threatened by Islamic Arabs. Their leader, Omar, spared the place where their prophet Issa (Jesus) was born. The Mosque of Omar was erected outside the church to commemorate this event.

The original church had three entrances. Two of them have been bricked up. The existing entrance was the central entrance. It was lowered even further during the Ottoman era, to keep horsemen from being able to ride into the church. The present opening can only be passed by bending your head and knees. "Lower yourself, you proud one, if you want to approach God, who for your sake came to us a child." It is often referred to as the "Door of Humility."

The interior is divided into a central nave and two side aisles. The stone for the supporting columns was quarried in Bethlehem. The church is in disrepair. No repairs can be made without the agreement of all the churches represented, and of course no agreement has been reached. Since the church is located in the West Bank, the Palestinian President "convinced" them to at least repair the roof and windows. The wood covering the limestone columns is to protect them during the renovation.

The Holy Land has a very strong Tour Guides Union. Though we were traveling under the auspices of the Jerusalem Center for Biblical Studies and had a teacher, not a guide, we were still forced to employ a Palestinian Arab guide for the Church of the Nativity. I am sure that Amro is a really nice guy, but I would have much preferred the tour be conducted by our Christian Bible teacher! It also became very obvious that bribes could be given to grease the wheels and avoid lines. Our teacher, Willis, chose not to do this, and we waited patiently in line. An Italian tourist behind us became very irate when officials allowed these "special" people to cut in line.

We entered through the Greek Orthodox portion of the church. It was very dark and beautiful. Golden icons gleamed in the candlelight. The scent of incense and burning candle wax filled the relatively small space.

Bearded monks moved silently among us as we jostled for position.

All eyes became focused on the small doorway and the steps leading down to the grotto. As we descended, it became cooler and strangely quite. We were approaching the spot where the Word was made flesh!

Under a small altar is the fourteen-point silver star embedded in marble marking the spot where Jesus entered the word. The inscription reads "Hic de Virgine Maria Jesus Christus natus est" - "Here Jesus Christ was born to the Virgin Mary." An old Oriental liturgy says "In this place heavenly love became manifest in our world. Hope was reborn and peace embraced the earth."

Down three steps is the altar of the magi, which faces the marble covering over the rock where the manager rested. "And this shall be a sign unto you; ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." Luke 2:21.

We could not linger in this sacred place, but had to move on to admit other pilgrims.

We exited through the Armenian portion of the church, where the altar was covered for Lent, and the walls were adorned with ancient frescoes.

The Church of St. Catherine was built adjacent to the Church of the Nativity.

As you descend the stairs in St. Catherine's church, you come to the Cave of the Holy Innocents. This cave was named in memory of the male children who fell victim to Herod's paranoid fear described in Matthew 2:16 after the birth of Jesus. It is not believed that children were ever buried here, but it seems a fitting place to pay tribute to these children. It is also believed that this may have been located at one of the original entrances to the Grotto of the Nativity.

The main altar in this underground complex is devoted to St. Joseph. He is said to be the one who selected this cave for the birth of Jesus. It was also here where it is believed Joseph experienced the dream which caused their flight to Egypt. 'And when they (the magi) were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying. "Arise and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt and be thou there until I bring thee word; for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.' When he arose, he took the young child and his other by night, and departed into Egypt: and there until the death of Herod." In this space we had time to think about our earthly fathers, and the role they play in our lives.

In 386 AD the Dalmatian priest Jerome arrived in Bethlehem from Rome. He had always wanted to translate the Old Testament from the original Hebrew into Latin. When he was in Rome he was the secretary to Pope Damasus and did not have time for this venture. He secluded himself in a cave near the Grotto of the Nativity to study the Bible and undertake this work. While he was in Rome, he had attracted a circle of women who wanted to strengthen their faith. One of these women, Paula, and her daughter Eustochium, followed Jerome to Bethlehem, where she founded a convent near the Cave of the Nativity. When she arrived in Bethlehem, Paula said, "Yes, this will be my resting place; since the Redeemer himself has chosen this as his residence, this is where I too want to stay." Notice the skull under Jerome's foot. Some say it symbolizes all the death in the Bible, while others opine it is because he wanted to give up his translation of the Bible, but could not bring himself to.

Beneath St. Catherine's Church is the Cave of Jerome. Jerome spent thirty years here, working on his translation. Paula, her daughter, and St. Jerome are all buried in a crypt here.

Amen!

We end this very emotional day back in our Bethlehem hotel.