Atma Katha ~ 336

Swamiji, this part of the Atma Katha reminds me of my trip to Israel and when I was in Bethlehem in the cave in the Church of the Nativity in Manger Square where Christ was said to have been born. On that day, there had been much violence in the region and the Israelis were making an offensive against Lebanon and there was shelling at the borders. Two days earlier, a bus had been hijacked and an Israeli woman and the hijackers were killed in the vehicle at a checkpoint going into Bethlehem. There was no one in the church that day except our small group. It was a Friday, and across the square was a mosque. I was kneeling next to the stone where they said Christ was born and had my hand on it when they began shouting from the mosque that all Americans and Israelis should be killed. The person leading our group looked at me–still holding my hand on this sacred rock–and said “I don’t know what to do, I forgot my gun!” I suggested we quickly take the group out of the area before we were seen. And that’s what we did. Our driver made us lay on the seats so no one would see us as we drove out of Bethlehem, a town I had sung Christmas Carols about all through my childhood…. When I came home, I told Sri Swamiji this story. I remember His words were “Kali Yuga! This is what happens at even sacred places during the Kali Yuga!”