Each year, during the season of Advent, the church sets off on a journey. We begin to prepare our hearts and our minds for the coming of the Christ-child, so that this time he will have a proper place to be born.

And we think we know the way to Bethlehem. We can find it on the map. It's not that far from Jerusalem, by today's standards; shouldn't be a problem.

But the problem is that so much has changed since our last visit. A whole year has passed, a year that brought many changes in our lives, s…