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July 2000
Dear Friends and Relations,
Here it is already July and I’m realizing that I haven’t
even told you about the change in the millennium, which I witnessed
in Manger Square in Bethlehem.
Despite the controversy and tension in November over the Nazareth
situation, the churches in the Holy Land put their best foot forward
and, with much fanfare, officially opened the Bethlehem 2000 celebrations
on December 4 in Bethlehem. A newly renovated Manger Square was
the setting for this inaugural and ecumenical occasion. The say
was billed as a "Common Celebration," as all of the
heads of the 13 traditional churches of the Holy Land took part
in the event.
President Yasser Arafat officially inaugurated the opening of
the Bethlehem 2000 celebrations in a formal ceremony that lasted
well into the evening. It was a day filled with parades, music,
pomp and circumstance. Prayers, songs, Scripture and gospel readings
permeated the scene. A handshake of peace, with the participation
of everyone in the crowd, was followed just after dark with the
release of 12 doves of peace. President Arafat then threw the
switch that lit the Christmas trees lining the piazza to the Church
of the Nativity, illuminating the entire area of Bethlehem around
Manger Square. Dozens of colorful electric stars lining the streets
of the old city of Bethlehem shone for the first time, in keeping
with the theme of the Bethlehem 2000 celebrations, "Follow
the Star." The day ended with the tolling of bells from Bethlehem’s
church steeples and a rousing rendition, albeit taped, of the
Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s "Messiah" resounding
throughout Manger Square.
Each Sunday evening during the Advent season, Bethlehem 2000
also played host to Advent concerts, beginning with the Vienna
Boys Choir on November 27 in Manger Square. The residents of Bethlehem
and the surrounding cities were treated to concerts and chamber
music by world-renowned orchestras and choirs. A completely refurbished
St. Catherine’s Church was the setting for much of this musical
extravaganza.
Christmas 1999 was celebrated in the customary manner here in
Bethlehem, and I hosted my fourth group of St. Olaf College students
on Christmas Eve. In addition, there was the traditional parade
and the welcoming to Bethlehem of the Latin Patriarch for the
beginning of the Christmas services. Many church services, including
an early evening service at the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas
Church, were well attended. This year, the service was broadcast
live to Germany. I had the privilege of watching the service from
the International Center below the church, and was able to view
the service the way that it was actually broadcast in Germany,
including film clips that were shot at various places in and around
Bethlehem. Visits with friends on and around Manger Square capped
the day, which ended for me with the traditional midnight Mass
in St. Catherine’s church.
December 28 is traditionally remembered in Bethlehem as Holy
Innocents Day, commemorating the slaughter of the children of
Bethlehem by King Herod nearly two thousand years ago. Using the
theme "Remembering the Innocents: Turning Mourning in Joy,"
the Holy Land Trust organized a children’s street festival
on Manger Square. Hundreds of children from all over Bethlehem
and the neighboring villages and towns came out for this event.
The Holy Land Trust seeks to raise awareness worldwide of how
the suffering of innocents continues today as a result of political
conflict, and addresses what can be done about it to turn their
mourning into joy. Theater productions, street clowns, balloons,
face-painting, cotton candy and gifts were all part of the day’s
celebrations.
New Year’s Eve found me once again in Manger Square, anxiously
awaiting the coming of the New Millennium with friends and thousands
of additional revelers. A clock, a gift from the city of Athens
to the city of Bethlehem, counted down to the stroke of midnight.
A spectacular fireworks display, the likes of which I have never
before seen, filled the night sky over Bethlehem at midnight.
Simultaneously, hundreds of doves were released into the dark
night. Many of them flew down to the square and chose to roost
in the recently planted trees on Manger Square rather than to
fly off into the dark night sky. A friend of mine standing nearby
commented that the flight of these doves was synonymous with the
current state of affairs regarding the "peace process"—that
it just can’t seem to fly!
Indeed, both the old year and the old millennium ended with many
questions and much uncertainty about the state of the current
"peace process" between Israelis and Palestinians. The
fear and uncertainty perpetrated by many around the world of the
Y2K "bug" were the farthest thing from my mind, as I
walked home in the early morning hours of January 1, 2000. Rather,
I felt more in touch with the thoughts and emotions of people
in this part of the world. How would life be different for them,
I wondered, once the parties and the celebrations were over?
In this new year and in this new millennium, let us pray that
God’s wisdom and guidance might influence those in power
in this region. Let us hope that both Palestinians and Israelis
will at long last benefit from a just and genuine peace that both
peoples have so longed for and which both peoples so justly deserve.
Finally, may each of us continue to do his or her part, working
earnestly at whatever task is before us, so that we might yet
have a foretaste of God’s kingdom here in our midst. This
is my prayer for the new millennium. May it be so.
Douglas Dicks
The 2000 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 139
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