Why Swaddling Clothes?

[bestill]

The following is a quote from www.gracethrufaith.com from Jack Kelley's article titled, "The Christmas Story Part 1"

Swaddling cloths, as they were called, were cut from worn out priestly garments. Mostly they were braided together and used as wicks for the four great four-branched menorah placed in the Temple courts during the Feast of Tabernacles. These giant lamps were so tall that priests had to lug buckets of oil up 30-foot ladders to keep them burning, and it

[other one]

'Tehilah Ba'Aretz'

As for Mary riding a donkey from Nazareth to Bethlehem... You're kidding, right? Joseph actually liked her. I refuse to believe that he would have subjected her to that sort of torture.

That is sooo true...

Even travelling in a car at 9 months of pregnancy is bad enough let alone sitting on a donkey stumbling over pebbles and rocks.. very much torture..!!

Donkeys don't stumble..... but you would not want to be in a hurry either. Short legged things can bounce your head off....... but if you go slow, they can be a smooth ride especially on a side saddle or such.

[Guest HIS girl]

Donkeys don't stumble..... but you would not want to be in a hurry either. Short legged things can bounce your head off....... but if you go slow, they can be a smooth ride especially on a side saddle or such.

Donkeys don't stumble? An uneven rocky road may do this..

Hmmm...at 9 months pregnant?

[other one]

Don't make me go there...... depends on the female and how good of shape they are in.

Maybe why she had him the night she did. Popcorn works too.

[Guest HIS girl]

Don't make me go there...... depends on the female and how good of shape they are in.

Maybe why she had him the night she did. Popcorn works too.

Popcorn?

[other one]

BTW, my wife climbed all the stairs up seven falls outside Colorado Springs when she was 8 1/2 months along..... and then hiked up to Katherine Bates grave site from the top of the steps. Was a really good vacation.

Second time around was very eventful also...... Had a 6 1/2 minute labor consisting of 4 contractions. Neither of our kids were delivered by her doctor. Last one told me I'd have to go to midwife school if I got her pregnant again...

[Guest HIS girl]

BTW, my wife climbed all the stairs up seven falls outside Colorado Springs when she was 8 1/2 months along..... and then hiked up to Katherine Bates grave site from the top of the steps. Was a really good vacation.

Second time around was very eventful also...... Had a 6 1/2 minute labor consisting of 4 contractions. Neither of our kids were delivered by her doctor. Last one told me I'd have to go to midwife school if I got her pregnant again...

That's impressive -

I mowed the lawn at 9 months...

I wouldn't advise that though......

[irishcowboy]

I think I would rather ride a donkey then in a wagon to Bethlahem, the terrain is such a donkey would probably been the most reasonable, comfortable ride.

donkeys are very sure footed, can carry a good size load, a young lady of about 14/15 with child would not be so heavy a load. the ride on a donkey is fairly smooth, so long as you are not trying to play basket ball from their backs (that is a hoot, a great fund raising activity as well). as far as I know, donkeys are about as sure footed as the Iclandic Ponies, which can navigat very rough ground very smoothly and with out much prodding so long as you let them pick and choose their paths, even over very wet, slippery steep ground. Icelandic ponies are short and stocky and really sure footed, they are not as hard headed as most donkeys, but most donkeys these days are not trained very well.

I believe a donkey would have been the very best choice for the journey.

mike

[Guest HIS girl]

Well I didn't know donkeys were sure footed (I never thought about it too deeply) but I guess that makes sense considering they are used for transprorting goods, kids, families, furniture and anything else that they can fit on the poor donkeys backs...

[Iryssa]

'Tehilah Ba'Aretz'

As for Mary riding a donkey from Nazareth to Bethlehem... You're kidding, right? Joseph actually liked her. I refuse to believe that he would have subjected her to that sort of torture.

That is sooo true...

Even travelling in a car at 9 months of pregnancy is bad enough let alone sitting on a donkey stumbling over pebbles and rocks.. very much torture..!!

I have to agree with Mike here...I'm not sure a wagon would have been a whole lot better than a donkey. I mean, given how rocky that area is, I doubt even the Romans could have maintained the roads at a level that would make it a smooth ride in a cart. They didn't exactly have pneumatic tires back then, and at least a donkey would absorb some of the impact of the bumps with its own body movement. If she was accustomed to riding a donkey it probably wouldn't have been a whole lot worse--and might have even been better--than riding in a cart. Anyhow, speaking as someone who is 36 weeks pregnant, I can tell you that she almost certainly would not have had an easy time of it one way or the other.

BTW, my wife climbed all the stairs up seven falls outside Colorado Springs when she was 8 1/2 months along..... and then hiked up to Katherine Bates grave site from the top of the steps. Was a really good vacation.

Second time around was very eventful also...... Had a 6 1/2 minute labor consisting of 4 contractions. Neither of our kids were delivered by her doctor. Last one told me I'd have to go to midwife school if I got her pregnant again...

Admirable as that is, she probably would have had a short labor even if she wasn't that active. I'm a very active person myself and had a 24-hour labor with my first. Has more to do with the structure of your body than how late into the pregnancy you can keep hiking trails. Of course it helps being in good shape, but at the end of the day some women just have fast labors and others just have long ones.