Bethlehem – Walkabout Jerusalem 2020

A day of journeys, of travellers, of walkabouts… This day we have met many people from all over the world; Indonesia, Columbia, Brazil, Germany, Rwanda… travelling, making adventurous journeys across this place and all to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.

River Jordan

We began the day travelling to the River Jordan when some rosemary was spotted at the roadside, the coach was stopped and sprigs collected. At the baptismal site, close to the Sea of Galilee the rosemary was used to sprinkle/douse us in the water from the Jordan.

We soon gathered a crowd and people just kept coming to Bishop Jonathan standing in the river. There were people from Columbia, Rwanda and Brazil and others.

The Road to Jericho

An amazing journey, with the countryside starting in intensive horticulture with courgettes, cauliflowers, grapes and date palms. The border with Jordan was at the edge of the roads and in places there were missile launchers pointing to Jordan. After an hour the mountains and terrain changed to rocky boulders and harsher soils with sheep and goats.

The Mount of Temptation

At the edge of Jericho, which appeared a sprawl and chaotic city, ( no sign of the wall!!), we took the cable car to the Mount of Temptation. Halfway up the mountain and the views were incredible and just as I imagine it would have been when the devil was tempting Jesus. We then walked into the monastery and a tiny cave, similar to one where Jesus would have sheltered.

The Dead Sea

My favourite colour is pale blue and this was the total colour of the Dead Sea , the mountains in Jordan and sky. The experience of floating in The Dead Sea was unreal and felt something like being totally weightless. The hardest thing was to try and put your feet on the ground, impossible! Definitely an experience to have though. Photos will follow.

The Road to Bethlehem

The journey to Bethlehem found us travelling past Bedouin camps, young shepherds looking after the sheep on the rocky hillside. Running Parallel with the road was the valley where Jesus based the story of the Good Samaritan, but was also the valley which Jesus described in the 23^rd Psalm. It was easy to visualise robbers and isolations.

And then… we became immersed in the traffic around Jerusalem and back in the 21^st Century, before going through the checkpoint into Bethlehem to find our hotel The Manger Square Hotel.

This is His story; this is our song…

Bethlehem, the city where Jesus was born, the place where the shepherds lived, the first to give the message of his arrival into the world. Today, it is a city of surprises. Our hotel is very close to Manger Square and at 7.00am it was slowly coming to life. The coffee shops were open, selling breakfast, the ATM machines were mainly closed (which was a problem as received Jordanian dinar!), but the sky was blue, and it felt good.

The Church of the Nativity

We entered through the narrow door and heard the story of the camels which were pushed through! A long story, so maybe later… Many, many lights and baubles and incense and we queued for a while to go to the place where they think Jesus was born. It was quite elaborate and a special place. We then held Morning Prayer in a beautiful courtyard outside, reading the Christmas story from Luke’s gospel.

The Church of the Nativity, Manger Square – interior

The Shepherds’ Fields

High on the hills the shepherds fields were spotted with wonderful red anemones. The view across the valley beyond was impressive, apart from the settlement on the other side. We had a beautiful Eucharist outside overlooking the valley, and Bishop Jonathan spoke about the shepherds being the first to have the news of Jesus birth and their feelings of fear of the angel, a sense of awe, and their courage as lowly shepherds, to be the first to tell the news.

Bethlehem University

A beacon of hope and an oasis of peace. A Catholic university in Bethlehem where all feel welcome, especially Muslim students. The students talked about their lives and how many things they have to manage to be at university in Bethlehem as Palestinians, whether Christian or Muslim.