2nd Day

Grotto of the Nativity

 It's the 2nd day of 2021. No miracle turnaround of the pandemic, no miracle easing of tensions with Syria and Iran. It feels just like last week. Bethlehem is deathly quiet. A couple of nuns living near the Basilica of the Nativity pray in the grotto of Christ's birth. The Church door remain closed most of the time. And Manger Square is empty. The subdued celebration of Christmas is mute till Jan. 6 when the Orthodox Churches celebrate their Christmas. 

The lockdown in Israel has also seen restaurants and shops in the Christian Quarter closed. No one is walking to church ... the streets are empty. But in the alleys, children come out to play and get some sunshine. When will be magic of 2021 start? A turnaround or a leap forward ... something ... anything for a change.

Our Patriarch in Bethlehem

I had planned to do alot of reading today but as fate would have it, I worked over 10 hours distributing the furniture and clothes of the poor who came to collect. Most of the stiff are from the closed down hotel I had brought back 2 days ago. 3 beds, 2 cupboards, 2 organs, 1 drum, chairs and tables were given away today. Now I got home, tired, hungry, foot swollen. There were leftover pizza from yesterday' dinner which I ate. Now it's time to sleep. 

Vaccinations are going on even on Saturday ... and the rabbis are railing against the breaking of the Sabbath. Still its the most successful vaccination programme in the world. Almost a million jabs in 6 days. Now I hear that the govt is offering inoculations to religious as well. I doubt that news ... newspapers are saying there's a severe shortage of vaccines and the govt. is desperately calling companies to advance the shipments of next month. And with some deaths following the inoculations, and not enough studies done on the vaccine's side effects, I think I'll skip it if it actually is available to foreigners.