Virtual Pilgrimage: Entering Bethlehem
I wonder if Joseph and Mary had to go through armed checkpoints and separation walls when they entered Bethlehem?
Today, the virtual pilgrimage explored the Church of the Nativity. An interesting thing about the Church of the Nativity is the entrance. It is built so low that only children can enter without stooping. To quote the virtual pilgrimage’s blog, no matter who you are we all bow down to go into the place where God became man.
O Lord
We dash past souvenir shops
and idle tradesmen,
push through crowds of people,
and rush ahead of local Christians,
to see where you were born.
But you are not there.
For you are in the souvenir shops,
with the tradesmen,
among the crowds,
alongside the citizens,
who we, in our eagerness
to meet you
rushed past,
without noticing.
Sometimes, we forget that Christ came for his creation. To meet Christ, we might need to stop and meet his creation rather than expect a miraculous encounter in our churches and pilgrimage locations.
