The Topeka state journal., 1919-12-25
From jerusalem to Bethlehem
--
A Christmas Journey Taken The City of David the
Year Before the War; by DIR. and Mrs.
III. A. Ott, of Topeka


Her. of. the Virgin Mary Jesus
Christ was born.
And over these pavements a never
ceasing stream of pilgrims were COM
ing, people who venerated- a sacred
spot vastly more than I did. kneeling
and kissing the star, the stones, and
the altar, for Christs sake. In one
corner was a marble manger, with all
the suggestiveness of the nativity. 1t
is said the original manger, five boards
of it, have been taken to Rome and
five boards are exhibited with marked
ceremony in the church of Santa
Maria Maggiore, now and then, in
Rome. We were in that church once
but did not see .'the five boards
Here we paused for a while and
meditated, and as we fingered we
asked ourselves whether what we
saw in this world-renowned place was
credible. Yes, it was credible, but not
convincing. Without doubt the ancient
kahn of Bethlehem was very near by,
possibly even right here. However,
the profusion of tinsel and Sraperies,
as 1 viewed it, was all out of place,
and thousand times one would rather,
the place had been left just as nature
had given it, and a holy birth had
sanctified it.
But here we stood on a spot, of
which we had sung in joyous carols
for upwards of fifty years. It was
now robbed of that sentiment in which
distance lends enchantment to the
view" I tried to get behind all the
un-Protestant veneer and see the
place as it originally was. Presently
the beautiful hymn of the Austrian
priest, Joseph Motr, came floating
thru my soul:
Holy night! Silent night.
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon Virgin Mother and Child,
Holy Infant, tender and mild,
Sleep in Heavenly peace.
The Glorious Hills.
The stuffiness of the place op-
pressed one. We go out of the build
ing, and permitting our eyes to sweep
over the surrounding hills, we select
one that stood out prominently, we
then chanted the GLORIA in Excelsis:
GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGH
EST, ON EARTH PEACE, GOOD
WILL TOWARD MENU After all the
glorious hills were to me the holier
reminder. of that.now world-ceIebrated
natal day; for did not they cut the
skyline just as they did on the re-
splendent evening, when the shep-
herds were abiding with their flocks
by night" The angelic choir, and the
seraphic spokesman, the glorious eff
fulgence, the frightened shepherds. all
presented their part in that wonder
ful drama, BE not affrighted, for be-
mold, l bring you glad tidings of great
JOY, which shall be to all people"
From the glorious hills came the re-
nain:
joy to the world!
The Lord has come;
Let Earth receive her King:
Let every heart prepare Him room,
ana heaven and nature sing.
Then Came the War.
. Here was = Christian, town amid a
tremendous Mohammedan environ
ment.' But did not see a minaret in
the place. Here the church bells on
christmas morning are pealing out the
1amlllar matin, Come and worship,
worship Christ the new born King
LATHE did We dream in SO short al
time, the very next year, a great war
would be on, and the Holy Land would
De torn from the unbelieving Turk
ana an ohristian pilgrims could then
wander all over it without the insult
once so common when a Christian
wished to visit the Temple site, or the
Tomb of David, or that of Abraham.
1t is now hoped that Christian civil
lzation will permeate the uttermost
parts of the Land of Promise, and
possibly a Jewish nation will be re-
established where kingly David once
reigned.
Then we took our steps back to
Jerusalem, over the hills where David
watched the flocks of Jesse, where he
was annointed by Samuel, 'sghere the
pastures drop fatness and the little
hills rejoice together" We pass the
Well of David and sample it's refresh
ing water, and as we climbed up hill
and over vale We could not other than
catch glimpse of the Shepherd Psalm
III our mental realm, He maketh me
to lie down in the green pastures, He
Ieadeth me beside the still waters"
Yes, here all about US. the hills, the
valleys. the wells, the threshing floors.
the deep waddies- where a wandering
sheep might be lost, the caves and the
tombs along the way. were constantly
bringing to my mind scenes of Holy
Writ The preacher could easily see
along that wonderful way, Tongues
in trees, books in running brooks, SER
mons in stones, and good in every
thing"
On arriving at the crest one sees
The minarets, the domes, the battle
mented walls of Jerusalem standing
out on the brilliant skyline. Our car
rage now rattles down the ridge, by
the railway station, across the valley
of Hinnom, thence up thru the Jaffa
Gate by the Tower of David to the
door of the Grand New hotel, where
we were soon resting out on one of
the interesting balconies overlooking
David street. Here we gazed on the
motley throng that surges by all the
day long, a ceaseIess moving throng
However, amid all this confusion, lin
gerlng like pleasant thought, were
the hallowed associations of the An
cient City of David, Here we will
reader, that it may add to the exalt-
ing joys of your Christmas-tide
Jerusalem, June, 1913.
--sr----------------