Merry Christmas!

And unto us a lamb is born. 

Though there are still a bunch of upcoming posts on Turkey, I wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas from the wonderful country of Israel.  It’s special for me to be here on this particular occasion, the culmination of a dream. 

There’s lots of things that can be said for Christmas.  It’s strange not be celebrating with other family members.  I miss the warmth and cheer that comes of being with the people that love us most, the familiar traditions we enact each year.  However, to walk in the place where Jesus walked, the reason for the season, I feel a sense of awe settle upon me. 

And I think, why?  Why must we fight amongst ourselves?  Why are there divisions between people? We are all the same in a sense.  We love.  We love our families, our land, our culture, our beliefs in the same way around the world.  There’s a particularly poignant scene in the mini-series, Band of Brothers, where a German commander bids farewell to his troops and an American soldier translates for his compatriots.  The words spoken could’ve been said by either side.  Yes, there are bad people who make evil choices.  But, the majority of us are the same, no matter what side we’re on.  I hope you’ll excuse my rambling, but in this holiday season, in a land so splintered by faith and so traumatized in history, in all our travels and the different people we’ve met, I can’t help but think how easily we could achieve world peace if only we’d sit down and just talk with an open mind like the disparate travellers who gather around a common table in a guesthouse in Istanbul and breakfast together.

A very merry Christmas to you.  I wish many blessings upon you and your loved ones in this special time of year.