Journey to Bethlehem

Finally, I've made it home for Christmas Break! As I sit in my room on the second floor of my house, I have a clear view of the centurion soldier riding up and down the street on his horse, and I can hear the census taker blowing his trumpet as the line of cars idle by. Let me explain.
I live in a tee-tiny little town, on the corner of my block, next to a Presbyterian church. On a normal day, my street is so quiet you could lay down in the middle of the road for hours and not have to worry about getting run over (and yes, we've been bored enough to test this theory on many occasions). But for three nights out of the year, the tiny little church in this tiny little town puts on what is called "Journey to Bethlehem," which is a spectacular reproduction of Mary and Joseph's trip to Bethlehem and the birth of the baby Jesus, complete with live animals (the aforementioned horse, as well as donkeys and sheep) and spotlight-star shining up over the manger. Cars line both sides of the block for hours to drive through the scenes; so many cars that the town's police had to start coming out to direct the flow of traffic and add lanes to the small unmarked road using traffic cones. Needless to say, it has become quite a popular event around the area.
I suppose it's partly because it is such a great production to put people in the Christmas spirit that we don't mind being trapped in our house all evening for one weekend out of the year. Yup, trapped. As I mentioned, we live on the corner, and we have 3 driveways...but on this one weekend, the way that they route traffic blocks both of our front driveways with people waiting in line to go in, and our back driveway as people exit out the back. So we're completely hedged in by a line of traffic on a block that barely sees any action at all most days of the week. It's different, to say the least. But it's a worthwhile sacrifice to make to allow the "Journey" to continue. It has gone on for many years now, and we go through it every year, because it is such a great reminder of why we celebrate Christmas at all. And whether you are 'religious' or not, it really doesn't matter...the love, joy, humility, and hope that the Christmas story represents are as relevant today as they were over 2000 years ago.