Holy Walk

Last night Lee and I participated in the Holy Walk in Bremen. We volunteered with Lee's cousin Alyssa. Since it was our first time we walked through it first. In it's simpliest form it is a reinactment of the Holy Walk as you head to Bethlehem to be taxed. You are lead by a guide who is the "head of the family". We were from the House of Rachel. We were flax farmers from Caesarea who had been traveling for 7 days. All of these details are important as the Romans quiz you throughout the walk and any hesitation can land you in jail. You carry your papers (a rolled up scroll) and must show those to the soldiers throughout the walk as well.

There are mean Roman guards that yell at you and ask you questions about your family, your trade, and your journey. My favorite line was a Roman soldier who walked up to a teenage girl and yelled....."You! Wipe the snow off my Armor!" You meet the shepherds (w/sheep), you speak with Mary and Joseph who are traveling (w/donkey), you enter the town to pay your taxes, etc. It ends at the stable with cattle, goats, a donkey, and the baby Jesus.

As you can see it was snowing and quite an amazing production. People who attend wait in the high school gym for two + hours to be bused out to this farm! Approximately 3000 people go through each year (in one weekend). After we went through we helped out in the tent of the sandal maker. We were cold but it was a lot of fun. Definitely a neat way to show people what it would have been like for Mary and Joseph as they traveled to Bethlehem.