What is the most Christmas filled experience you have had?
I have been thinking a lot about Christmas. What exactly is the Christmas spirit? There are parties, trees, lights, gifts, hot cocoa, bundling up by the fire, watching movies, shopping, mailing cards to family and friends. There is giving, and donating; there are plays, musicals and concerts.
There is a palpable feeling in the air, and throughout the community of good will, of hope and purpose. This feeling is unique to Christmas time. And yet, none of these things we do now for Christmas were there on that first Christmas. Except for the singing, and gifts given a couple years down the road from the wise men. We have created this hive of activity to symbolize the holiday, but none of the activities were there then.
Can you imagine, the inn keeper saying, “Mary, sorry about the inn being in a no-vacancy state, would you like to listen to some Barry Manilow on my blue tooth speaker while sipping some Stephens gourmet hot cocoa while you recover from your nine month pregnancy – riding for three days on a donkey – post baby delivery?” Or Joseph saying, “Mary can you believe all the Black Friday discounts that are going on at the the Amazon caravan from the city? If we order stuff before the baby comes maybe they can do expedited camel delivery.”
So what is the Christmas spirit? Where does it come from?
Over 16 years ago I traveled from the city of Jerusalem, where I was living for the summer, to Bethlehem. According to Google maps it is about an hour and a half drive. We went in classes, on three different large scale tour buses. We piled into with our day packs and sack lunches. (Turkey and cheese in fresh pita bread, yum!)
The remarkable thing about modern day Bethlehem, is that is looks like ancient day Bethlehem. The outline of the city, the old stone buildings, the simplicity and scarcity of the town all reminds me of what I imagine old Bethlehem to look like. Even today the population is estimated at only 25,000.
On this hot summer day we made plans to visit the inside city of Bethlehem, and to go to Shepherd’s Field. While there are many geographical relics in Israel, I remember specifically this day, our instructor warning us not to be disappointed in the religious spectacle offered by centuries of worship of various Christian groups. I wasn’t sure what that meant, or more specifically, what that meant for me until after we payed homage to the baby Jesus at the Church of the Nativity, along with the hundreds of thousands, and millions of other faithful humans who had made their pilgrimage to this spot.
July 29, 1998 | Bethlehem, Israel
“Deafen yourself to the noise of the insignificant. Don’t look at what now is, look at what once was. Open up your spiritual understanding.”
– Brother Ostler, BYU Jerusalem Instructor
Mead Clarke: “Christian Parlor Magazine Vol III” (1847)
Originally published in the December, 1896, issue of ST. NICHOLAS
Bethlehem Christmas Pilgrims, 1880
Inside the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem, Israel
Silver star marks the traditional site of the birth of Jesus, in Bethlehem
Christmas is not in the Church of the Nativity
I now understood what he meant. There is so much opulence in this place of worship, that the feeling of Christmas was totally absent. You know the Christmas feeling of purity, of simplicity, of hope, of sanctuary, of tiny packages, of music, of family? All of those feelings were draped with gold, incense, and ceremony. The Church that houses this special location has preserved an history with great fortitude, but for me, this spot was not Christmas.
Maybe I’ll Find It On The Hill
After an hour or so at the Church of the Nativity we gathered our people and drove a short distance to Shepherd’s Field. It was nearing sunset. There are great hills all across Israel, (or small mountains, depending on where you are from.) The land is scattered with big boulders and small rocks. The earth produces cantankerous and dry shrubbery, similar to what you would see in rural parts of Utah, and other grasses and plants. Shepherd’s hill is a modern day, ancient in tradition, sheep farm.
We gathered into small classes and sang praises to our Lord Jesus Christ, and honored his birth to mother Mary. A peer of mine represented Joseph, and shared his perspective on what it may have been like to be there, then Mary, the shepherds, and the wise men. We sang hymns. My absolute favorite thing about this moment is that a shepherd came to watch our worship. He was fairly young, maybe 25-30. His dark skin was like a fine tanned leather. He wore dark, scraggly hair just below his jaw line, and a fabric tunic/hat of sorts. His long fabric robes were layered in sun bleached colors of blue and dark salmon. Brown sandals protected his calloused feet from the various natural elements. He even carried a crook, his was straight up and down, in a gnarly, twisted tree kind of way. This man was a nativity shepherd right before our eyes, living in his modern day, real life. He joined with us in honoring the shepherds of old who heeded the angel’s call to worship.
When our devotional commenced we were given time alone to write in our journal, to pray, and to ponder of the significance of this place, The House of David. One student brought her violin and shares her testimony of this sweet night, in the dark playing “Silent Night” as a one voice ensemble melody, the music dances through the quiet air and pulls our hearts towards the angels of heaven as we listen.
Shepherd’s field
July 29, 1998 | Bethlehem, Israel
“Sounds blend together to form a lull over the city upon the hill, modern day and ancient Bethlehem – but it is the light on the hill I sit on, that cannot be hid. We are our Savior’s light. If we all lost his light, how could He shine? The night light hovers in the sky, carols vibrate in the foreground. They sing what my heart does not know how to put into words. The side of the hill sparkles in all the darkness with small lights. Each one of us here carry our lights – in every shape, form, color and size. Tonight Heavenly Father helped me shine my own light. I can feel him so powerfully directing and comforting my life.”
“[Real live] angels sing on the hill across from where I sit. It is the combined voice of the other class singing songs of praise to the birth of the baby Jesus. My camera sits by my side but it could not capture the beauty that I see, it’s a spirit – a feeling, a feeling of friends – companions, up lifters. My heart has traveled the entire terrain of my soul today. All that I feel, all that I can feel I have felt today. Now, I feel the peace of my Savior. The whisperings of his love, his presence, and more than anything the assurance of his understanding. A tap on the shoulder, a tug at my heart, “Sarah,” the Lord tells me,” “I’m preparing you.”
“For what?” I ask.
“For great things.”
Sorrow, pain, sadness – wonder, awe.
It’s all for me, so I may be used for Him. How could I help them? I am so feeble, so helpless except by his name, his voice and his hand. Rejoice! Rejoice!
If I were a shepherd I think the excitement would be new and fresh – awe, no need to search for sleep that night. The sign was given – angels were heard. At the feast of the great royalty they were not invited, but they did beckon to the call of Him; the lowly, the wanting, the magnificent.”
I found Christmas Through Him
I did not need to go to Bethlehem to find Christmas. Just like I do not need to be a shepherd to see a great light directing my path. I do not need to abandon my modern day Christmas relics in search of a holier celebration. Christmas is right here. It is inside of you, and inside of me. Christmas is the light of Christ. It is the Holy Spirit bearing witness to the truth about the birth, life and purpose of the Redeemer, even Jesus Christ. I can feel Christmas while making sugar cookies with my kids, because forging family bonds is the whole purpose of Jesus Christ’s Atonement. I can celebrate Jesus Christ with strands of sparkly lights because it teaches me that no amount of darkness can discourage light, even in its tiniest forms. I can share of my abundance to those in need, to honor the great and unwarranted sacrifice that Jesus Christ made on my behalf. I can wrap others in the warmth of love, because “God so loved the world, that he gave him Only Begotten Son.”
Pick Up Some Creativity Blog
On that sacred night, over 2,000 years ago a tiny baby descended to earth. The journey he would make took him beneath all things, he endured ugliness, abuse, neglect, betrayal and more. The purpose? To save me. And to save you. This is the Christmas spirit, to awaken to the gift of life.
