On a recent Sunday night, my wife and I went to a nearby church for their “Bethlehem Walk.” Each year, they re-create the town of Bethlehem with shops, sheep, Roman soldiers, a prophet crying out in the street who looked, strangely enough, like the pastor of the church, and a young couple with a new baby out in an animal shed.

We arrived early so we would not have to wait in line long. That probably does not make sense, since we were in line long, but not a long line being at the front of it. As we stood there waiting, after having hurried, we suddenly saw a bright shooting star streaking across the sky. It was a striking reminder of another Bethlehem and another star and other people who hurried about on a night, long ago.

When we left, that line was unbelievably long, with people rushi…