Bethlehem bound

This foursome (one about to conk out from fatigue and the heat of a summer Sunday) is my beloved Reed family.

Just days after landing late last Saturday night in Tel Aviv from Atlanta, these Christian pilgrims — on their inaugural visit to Israel (with pit stops in Cairo and Paris before returning home for schools to reopen in 2008) are spending Christmas Eve in a special place, in a special way.

Today, Janet, Brian, Caroline, and Vivienne are in Manger Square, in the center of Bethlehem, the biblical town. Here, in the Church of the Nativity, in the Grotto where tradition says Jesus was born, they are celebrating the ancient Nativity birth narrative in lessons, carols, theatrical enactments, and liturgical services.

This evening, they rode an armored bus from the Anglican Church in Jerusalem to cross through the large IDF (Israel Defense Forces) checkpoint to Bethlehem, a short though security-conscious journey that the Reeds initially hesitated to make.

Their hesitation? In May 2002, Israeli-Palestinian fighting erupted when Islamist terrorists seized the Church of the Nativity, holding hostage dozens of Christian nuns, priests, monks, and pilgrims for weeks, and desecrating their holy site. For this and other reasons, many Western governments still warn against nonessential travel to Bethlehem. Yet new peace talks among the fighting parties encouraged my pals to join today's flow of pilgrims, tourists, families, and clusters of friends.

Bethlehem gets the green light(s)
Aviah, my cousin who recently completed three years' service in the IDF elite Paratroopers Brigade, relayed this message to the Reeds when I called him to inquire on safety conditions:

... Tell your friends the Israeli army will protect them.

Lisa Goldman, freelance journalist/writer, resident of Tel Aviv, and uber blogger, replied to my email:

... Bethlehem is quiet and safe, and there will be plenty of people around. I'm sure they'll have a good time.

* * *

Recently, here in Atlanta, as the guest of Stephanie (whose blog post on Finding Baby Jesus is a must-read) and her family, I watched the children, Bethlehem Bound in spirit, retell the Nativity birth story (that Angela directed) in their church.

Sitting behind these angels (waiting in their wings for the cue), basking in their sweetness and light, and relishing their wonder, I was moved to tears as they connected with generations before and those to come.

Reflecting on the same wonder I have felt since I was their age, listening to and retelling my family’s millennia-long Jewish history, tradition, and lessons, I remembered this:

We — the Reeds, Stephanie's and Angela's families, others', and mine are connected with generations before and those to come. We all experience sacred time, and we all observe sacred retelling.

Today, I am sending love to the Reeds in Bethlehem and to my Christian friends worldwide, among them Ute, Joe, James and Anissa, Danny, Marlene, Olga, Budd and family, Gary, Ellen, David and Hope, Faye and Jim, John, Madeline, Luther and Helen, and my virtual pals, bloggers Nizo and Bronze. And, I am remembering my Christian loved ones, whose memories are a blessing: Stella, Kathy, and Jean.