The tours and pilgrimages have all been cancelled. The streets are bare, the shops empty.

The Palestinian residents are in mourning. Celebrations have been replaced with a somber peace vigil and prayer service to mourn for the tens of thousands of people—mostly Gazans, mostly women and children—lost in the Israeli-Hamas conflict.

The traditional nativity scene at the Evangelical Lutheran church depicts baby Jesus on a pile of rubble, rather than resting in a manger. Instead of gifts, the wise men carry burial shrouds.

Ask anyone in Bethlehem this year what their Christmas wish is, the answer will be the same: they pray for peace.

Whether Christian, Jewish, Muslim, a follower of some other tradition (or no religion at all), may we join their prayers.

May we affirm together that we are all worthy of dignity and love…

That divinity makes it way to earth, hidden in human form…

That the Kingdom of God yearns to flourish within each of us…

And that the best gift we can ask for is the gift of peace for all.

May we practice peace within ourselves…

Within our families and communities…