Jerusalem museums, Bethlehem, and the table of religion

We began the day with a trip to the holocaust museum of Israel. Though I believe the Smithsonian has a better layout and overall picture it was still chilling to see the cruelty humans can have on each other. A fellow traveler brought a unique perspective when he mentioned our hated of the Nazi's should not cloud our judgement of men. All Mississippians cannot be blamed for the cruel treatment of African Americans. The South has a very black mark on history and so does Germany. We must all learn to get along.

We moved on to visit the Israeli Museum. Honestly it was hot and not that impressive except one part. We did get to see part of the Dead Sea Scrolls. As someone else reminded us, the Declaration of Independence is 200 years old and is barely legible. The Dead Sea Scrolls were written around the time of Christ's birth.

We then moved on to Bethlehem. The city is a Palestinian controlled territory so we had to pass through a checkpoint. It was heartbreaking to see the birthplace of Jesus be so run down while Jerusalem thrives around it. As we made our way to the square of the manger a precious Jewish lady in our group grabbed my hand to help her along the climb up the hill. We continued on, Jewish and Christian hand in hand, until we reached the square. I will never forget that moment of unity.

Upon arriving we visited the three churches that are at the spot of the nativity. The Greek church holds the grotto of the manger where we could see the exact spot where Jesus was born. It was humbling as we knelt in front of the manger spot to offer prayers for our salvation. We also visited the Albanian corner and the Catholic Church, where Christmas Mass is watched throughout the world.

As we left the church we heard call to prayer of the nearby Muslim mosque. Margie and I are familiar with this from visiting Istanbul last summer. What was striking was hearing this as we stood in Manger Square listening to the history of three Christian churches.

After we arrived at our hotel, exhausted from all we have seen, we decided for a quiet evening on the hotel balcony overlooking the Old City. We were instead treated to a Jewish wedding, a Catholic priest, and a table shared with Catholics, Protestants, and Jews. That my friends, is the Holy Land.