The grafitti of a dove in the cross hairs of a rifle, the young policemen everywhere, and the tight security to the point that our Jewish guide could not enter the city all brought to sobering reality the Middle East conflict. There were two churches at the Nativity sight. This is the older. Centuries of incense and candles, together with neglect on the part of the Palestinians for Christian holy sites, caused the inside of this cathedral to be dark in so many ways. One had to kneel and enter another "eye of the needle" to come into the structure. A Jerusalem Cross that incorporated olive trees was carved on one of the pillars and I thought it especially beautiful. It was a humbling experience to kneel and touch the stone where legend says that Jesus was born, knowing that thousands of pilgrims for millenia have done the same.
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