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Carol Perkins: Christmas is time to reflect Knowledge learned from trip to Holy Land makes Christmas more meaningful by Carol Perkins Although a time to be jolly and joyful, Christmas is also a time to reflect and to ponder and to make plans for the coming year. This particular Christmas I seem to be less interested in decorating and buying and doing all those traditional and expected tasks than in the past. I know the reason why and it has nothing to do with time or money or being a scrooge. It has to do with my trip to the Holy Land last January and seeing the places I had only read about or sung about during Christmas in the past. I will reflect on those ten days, ponder the miracle, and as I make plans for the future, I will be more in tune with what is important and what is not-I hope. Visiting the home of Mary in Nazareth where the angel came and told her that she was in God's favor enabled me to see what I had only visualized. Like all homes of the poor or middle class, this was no palace. It was tiny and made of stone as were all the dwellings. In order to stand in front of the opening where a door would have been, tourist had to walk down narrow stone steps and take turns looking inside. I then visited the home of Joseph where he took Mary to live, waiting for the birth. A grand church was built over both locations in order to protect them and to preserve them. Standing on hallowed ground humbles a person. We know Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem for the birth and for me, nothing has been as powerful as being at the actual site. As tourist filed through another massive church that was built over the spot and then descended a series of narrow, stone steps that led to the site, I knew I would not be given ample time to absorb the magnitude of being there and of knowing this was THE spot. So many times guides will say, "We think this is the spot." Not this time; the guide was sure. All the Christmas plays we have reenacted over the years led me to think of a stable as we know it and a manger made of wood, but that wasn't the case. The manger was stone, carved large enough to place straw and lay a clothe for the baby. I was so surprised because I had not pictured the manger or the stable in such a way. Our stables are barns. This Christmas morning, many will be going to church. I think it is very special when Christmas falls on Sunday and having communion on Christmas Eve is such a sentimental, emotional time, too. Sunday morning those who attend church will likely hear about the birth of Christ. As I listen, I will be able to recapture the memory of Mary and Joseph and the journey they took because I walked where they walked. I will remember the manger and all that followed because I was there. I touched the spot where Mary gave birth and touched the spot where the baby lay, wrapped in swaddling clothes. My trip to the Holy Land changed my focus and my way of thinking about Christmas. When my Texas grandson Luke was reciting his lines for the church Christmas play to me over the phone, I said, "Did you know that I have been to Bethlehem and touched the place where Jesus lay?" "No, I didn't know that. Cool!" -CAROL PERKINS This story was posted on 2011-12-25 11:19:06
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