Bethlehem at last!

After a long and gruelling journey, Mary and Joseph - and in a virtual sense, you too - have at last reached Bethlehem, our destination.

But as I'm sure you know, Mary and Joseph's discomforts didn't end at Bethlehem. Perhaps it was the disturbing fact of Mary's pregnancy that made Joseph's relatives less than hospitable, or perhaps Joseph's worry for Mary's health and the rigours of the journey made him less than organised in securing accommodation - whatever the reason, because they ended up in some kind of stable (Luke 2: 7).

The traditional site of Jesus's birth is a grotto or cave, which was used as shelter for animals in the 1st century. Today, it forms the crypt below the Church of the Nativity.

Star of Bethlehem

One natural event that's causing a lot of excitement this year is the possibility of a 'return' this year of the Star of Bethlehem , that brought the Magi eventually to Bethlehem - if you believe that the star was caused by the conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn, which should appear as an extra bright double star in the evening of December 21st.

Fredrick Lawson, an American lawyer, spent many years researching the position of the stars and planets in the last years of the first century BC and the first century AD, and produced a documentary film which is now available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exmbuX1NffU in which he claims to have confirmed a birthdate of December 25, 2 BC, when there was an even more spectacular triple conjunction. Some Biblical scholars and some astronomers have disputed Larson's hypothesis, but many American Christians have supported him. The best thing is probably to watch the film and make up your own mind.

Hot potage

However, being close to one of the village inns, perhaps Mary and Joseph would have been able to have their first hot meal, after several days of eating increasingly stale flatbreads. No one know, of course, but as lentils - especially red lentils - were a very important part of first century Palestinian diet, this may be close to the sort of thing they may have eaten. (It may also remind us of the fateful meal Jacob prepared for his twin brother Esau, which changed the course of history for the Jews (Genesis 25: 19-34).

You'll need:

I litre of chicken or vegetable stock

150 gms red lentils

I finely chopped onion

1 diced carrot

1 diced stick of celery

I fined copped garlic clove

1 tablespoon of either pearl barley or risotto rice (according to your taste)

I level teaspoon ground cumin

I tablespoon chopped fresh coriander

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a pan, then add the onion, carrot, garlic and celery, and fry until soft. Add the lentils, barley or rice, cumin and coriander and mix with the vegetables. Add the vegetable stock, bring to the boil, then cover tightly and simmer gently for 1 hour or until all the lentils are pulpy and the barley or rice is soft. Stir occasionally during cooking, and if your pottage appears to be getting too dry add a little more stock or water. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

First Christmas

It was that time, you know the time

there’s no time - rush, rush, rush,

every room full, and the kitchen a scalding

smoke-filled pandemonium.

A knock at the door:

a twitchy, stammering Nazarene

and a pregnant girl.

And no time: "Sorry - no room".

But the little pot-boy

in the moment before the door

slammed shut glimpsed

his shock, her pain,

the frost glittering darkness

and slipped outside.

“There’s a stable follow me - ”

Shooing out

the heavy footed cattle

he made a mattress for a lying-in

from straw and sweet hay.

And later, when the inn was silent

he crept across the yard

with wine and bread

for the pale young mother

with a new born baby at her breast.