BETHLEHEM.

Bethlehem.

It just sounds magical, doesn't it?

I don't mean magic in the way that it is normally defined. I'm not talking about what makes reindeer fly, or snowmen come to life. I'm talking about miracles, and true stories that stir an indescribable feeling in our hearts. Special times that we hold onto and treasure.

It's funny how there are certain words that don't just sound like normal words to me anymore. Bethlehem is one of them. Speaking the word, hearing it-- it carries such an incredible feeling, a supernatural feeling that fills our hearts with joy. When I hear the word, I think of a sacred night long ago, when a young girl found no place to lay her newborn baby but a manger. A shining star over the 
city. Shepherds leaving their fields to come and see the newborn king.

Maybe it sounds strange to connect such emotion to a simple word, but no name of any other city sounds quite so special as Bethlehem.

For anybody who celebrates Christmas, the name brings to mind the wonderful Christmas story and how this holiday began. For those of us who know that Child personally, all these centuries later... it brings to mind so much more than a story. It brings hope, love, peace, and yes, magic. Magic greater than Santa Claus could ever create.

There are some things I just can't describe. I guess the way this word, Bethlehem, sounds to me is one of them. Maybe I'm the only one who feels this way. But when I hear Bethlehem, I think of Christmas. Of all the Christmas Eves I've listened to my parents read my favorite Bible story. Mary, whose world was turned upside down but who took it gracefully. Joseph, who stayed beside her and trusted God's plan. Jesus, that innocent baby who was born just to sacrifice His life to save us from our sins. A magic of its own kind.

So it doesn't matter where I hear the word or who says it. Whether it's on a Rankin Bass special about a long-eared donkey...

...or The Nativity Story...

... or one of my favorite Christmas songs...

Bethlehem is magical. And I hope you can feel the same magic I do.

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem... (Luke 2:4)