Good morning! Last Friday, my brother and his friends waded in a water tunnel in Jerusalem and sang Christmas carols in Bethlehem! It was like Christmas in June! I was going to ask him if they got to go to the North Pole, too, but then I thought that without Christmas, the world might not even have a North Pole. Wow, this is a very special place!
First, everyone went down a whole lot of stairs to get to Hezekiah’s Tunnel. He was a king who built a very long underground tunnel to smuggle water into Jerusalem. My brother said that when they first got in the water, it almost came up to his waist, but then it stayed at about his calves or so. He said it was really fun. It was all dark except for his friends’ headlamps and phone lights. The tunnel is carved out of rock, and sometimes he had to turn sideways to get through. I hope he hasn’t been eating too much falafel! My brother wore our GoPro camera but he wears it about as well as I do! Maybe we can both take a class on how to take better movies!
Once they were back outside, they looked at some archeological diggings in the City of David. My ears always perk up when I hear about digging! Also, I thought Bethlehem was the City of David, but I guess when the angel told the shepherds that the Baby Jesus was born there, he was referring to Bethlehem as part of the metropolitan area, kind of like when my brother and I go out to the Bass Professional Shop in Broken Arrow.
The group then walked back up to Jerusalem in another tunnel. This one was the old drain for the city. When they got there, their guide Ran showed them how the old temple was destroyed by the Roman soldiers.
They pushed all these huge stones off the top of the wall until nothing was left on top. That made me sad, but I also thought: wow, those soldiers must have spent all their spare time working out!
These little places are right outside the city wall. They had fresh water baths, called Mikvas. I think it was kind of like baptism, except they did it more than once. I guess the half-life of the water wasn’t as good before Jesus’ time.
My brother said that their lunch in Bethlehem was his favorite so far. it reminded him of grilling out back home!
This sweet little fountain is for the shepherds and the sheep who were out in the fields on Christmas Eve.
I guess the rules in Bethlehem are that you have to have a guide who lives there, so the group was met by Martin and he showed them around. Here is what a shepherd’s cave looks like.
Do you what this is? It’s a manger, just like where the Baby Jesus slept! I was so relieved that it wasn’t the next step after mange – like mange, manger, mangest!
The group then went inside a little Chapel of the Shepherds of the Field. Wait until you see what happened next!
Christmas carols! Our friend Jim led everyone who was in the Chapel in a rousing rendition of “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing”. Here’s something else I just learned: I thought there were some angels named Harold who were really singing to the shepherds. It sure makes a difference when you see the spelling of things!
Here is a mural in the Chapel. If I was in Bethlehem in that time, I would sure have liked to have been where that dog is in the picture!
The group noticed that there was a lady in the Chapel that really liked to sing, so Jim asked her to lead the group in singing “Silent Night”. She was from Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Next, they went to the Church of the Nativity. Do you see that little door? That’s how everybody gets into the Church! Everyone bows down as a sign of humility.
The door looks just about my size, so I would need to do something else to be humble. Maybe I could shimmy in on my back!
The inside of the Church is very pretty.
Now, everyone got to go down the steps to a cave where the Baby Jesus was born.
Here’s our friend Mark bowing down at the very spot.
My brother got to touch the place, too!
Do you remember the manger in the shepherds cave? Well, here is the one in the Nativity place.
This area is called St Joseph’s Chapel. It’s where he learned in a dream that he needed to take Jesus and Mary to Egypt because King Herod was getting ready to do bad things to the babies in Israel. And he got right up and took them as quickly as he could! I really like that guy!
Now, in another room of this cave was a place where, several years later, St Jerome lived for 34 years, translating the Bible into Latin. That’s a long time, even in people years!
Well, I can’t wait to see what new adventures the group will have next! I’ll let you know as soon as I know!
Love, Winston