The Topeka state journal., 1919-12-25


late world war. At this Christmas-tide
permit us to be eyes to- you. reader,
1swhile again we take this delightful
journey.
A comfortable carriage, two Arabian
| (?) horses, an Arab driver, and
Syrian dragoman or guide. and we are
off. Passing out of the Jaffa Gate. we
cross the valley of Hinnom, and turn
our faces directly southwark over a
roadway bounded by rocks and hills.
We are soon crossing the boundary
line OF Benjamin and are in ''the hill
country of Judea. we had visited the
scenes in and around Jerusalem, all in.
tensive with sacred memory but now
we are going to Bethlehem! How de-
lightfu1, in the experience of a pastor,
to go to Bethlehem! Next to Golgotha.
! and the Holy Sepulchre, in sacred
memory, is the grotto made historic
as the birth place of Jesus.
Soon we are slkirting the Hill Of Evil
Counsel, the Field of Blood, where
Judas, remorseful and friendless, was
! buried. Our dragoman jocosely point
ed out-the very tree on which the arch
1 traitor hanged himself Our journey
is along the crest of a mountain range,
/ with deep waddies running down with
frightfu1 precipity twenty miles, from
4 level to a depth of more than 1,SOo
feet below sea-level Our way skirted
only a few cultivable spots. and the
! white limestone rocks, almost pure
Everywhere The hills were treeless,
and tumble-Gown stone fences here
4 and there surrounded fertile spots.
Here the Master could have gotten his
! material for his matcn1ess parable of
the sower; for the hard-trodden way
l. side fha@fhnrnV ground the StOi1V
ground and the fertile sopt were all
in evidence. Palestine appealed to me
anything except a land Flowing with
milk and honey" Turkish neglect
here, as elsewhere, had given birth to
the saying, Where the Turk rules the
grass does not grow.
Passing of 10 Centuries.
The pilgrim as he crosses these hills
cannot other than feel that now he
IS one of the many millions who in
the passing Of nineteen centuries have
journeyed over the same read. have
gazed upon the same hills, and in
dulged in the same reyeries. Along
this road the Magi travelled when
they came with their costly gifts, and
laid them at the feet of the-new-born
King. /
With Joseph and Mary, in fancy,
we will leisurely make our way over
the divide that separates the two
sacred cities. Beyond the crest we
light of Jacobs life, Rachel, went out
and where his first love bade him an
eternal farewell. How the hearts OF
Joseph and Mary must have throbbed
|Ias4hey approached the town Of Ruth
II AndsBoaz. and the early home Of their
ancestor David, Along this road they
must have viewed the same historic
spots we did, and rested by and drank
from the same wells by the wayside-
To-day as the pilgrim makes this jour
n
spring, has been made by the pious
/ hand Of the medieval chronicler, the
scene of some Bible event.
Home of Christmas Carol.
/ Now we are passing down into
i depression in which nestles Phillips
Brookss 20 Little Town of Bethle,
hem" a Christmas carol sang by all
of our churches Within our view
were the hills where, on that memor-
i able. night, shepherds were abiding
/ with their focks. Here one is touched
4 with holy memories and flood OF
4 Christmas song rushes into ones
/ mind:
4 There's song In the air,
There's q star in the sky,
There's mothers deep prayer,
And babes low cry:
And the star rains its fire, while the beau
For the manger Of Bethlehem cradles
King.
Mary and Joseph doubtless gazed on
these hills with interest as they slow
i ly made their way into the town
Were they not OF the line and lineage
of David and did not David lead his
flocks over these very hills? Did not
David sit on some of these rocks dur
ing the weary flock-watching, and
soul Of music, thus early laying the
foundation for his becoming the sweet
singer of Israel?
n Bethlehem Village OF 200.
But go with US into Bethlehem,
name resp1endent among the glorious
names of the world, revered and loved
far and wide. The little town at that
time must have been thronged with
jostling travellers. Today 1t is viii
lage of twelve hundred souls. Our
carriage was besieged with begging
children. It was. however, like many
other Syrian towns. Its only attrac-
tion was the Church of the Nativity
built by Helena, the mother of the
Roman emperor, in 325 A. D., and to-
it has been added jumbie of struc-
lures until the place looked more like
a fortification than a church. But
the Basilica erected by Helena is still
standing, and is used as a church, and
is therefore the Oldest Christian
church in existence. Its original
marble columns are yet standing, in
fine state of preservation, and they
deeply impress one with their an
tiquity.
Here we ran across Turkish soldiers
with guns in hand, keeping peace in a
i Christian church, because, Copt and
Armenian, and Greek and Roman
] Catholic. eager to get their respective
affairs close to the sacred spot where
Christ was born, fell to fighting. till
some were killed. Hence "a Moham-
| medan's gun kept peace in a Christian
church! This sight took away some
of the delight which had nestled in our
/ hearts.
In a Gorgeous Display.
/ But when one comes into the choir
and apse one finds himself in the
midst of a gorgeous display of altars,
rugs, draperies. tinsel, icons. crosses
and erucifixes, as are common among
the denominations mentioned. Here
4 door way to one side led down a slip