The pregnant woman walked alongside the donkey which carried her husband, Joseph’s, carpenter tools. Occasionally, she rode on the donkey while Joseph hauled the instruments and pieces of wood of his trade but the animal acted as burros do; when it decided that it had enough nonsense it would simply stop. Despite being well along with child, Mary decided to walk ahead with Joseph most of the time to pretend that they were in command.

The road to Bethlehem was 80 miles or so as the crow flies but the trip took them more than 100 miles. The couple had to transverse the Judean mountains and circle around the enclaves populated by the Samaritans who hated Jews. In the caravan of fellow travelers from Nazareth, Mary and Joseph felt relatively safe since the sheer number of fellow travelers discouraged the bandits from attacking them. After all, they would be an easy target otherwise, since they needed to bring money and supplies to make the 8 to 10 day trip on foot through the Jordan River Valley and mountainous region were it not for the strength in numbers.

The assets of the couple were de minimus so other families with them were able to secure housing before they were. While good Jews were supposed to offer hospitality to travelers by taking them into their homes overnight, the fact is that lucre encouraged the "gift" of housing since most of the homes were populated by lower-income Jews.

Starting out in late August from Nazareth they at first journeyed through oppressive heat until the weather changed around September 2 as Mary and Joseph camped out. Rain and wind occasionally pelted them in the 33-55 degree weather as they travelled toward Bethlehem. Fortunately, the rare event of snow didn’t make the trip more onerous.

As more travelers peeled off from the caravan as they secured housing along the way, the couple was a bit on edge. Not only was there a potential bandit problem but also lions and occasional bears in the mountainous region. After finally arriving in Bethlehem, nobody offered any help so they ended up in a cave where she gave birth to her son.

The traveling wasn’t over. The family had to continue to hike to Jerusalem, another 6 miles, so the son could be circumcised. Thinking that they were ready to return home Joseph was told in a dream to flee to Egypt, another country, if his family is to survive, since Herod the Great had issued a command that all male children two years old or less, would be put to death. Fearing for their child’s future, they immediately left for the strange new country some 40 miles away where they live in exile in a camp until Herod died the following year. The travel back home via one route was fraught with peril. Herod’s eldest surviving son, Archelaus, was a cruel tyrant. News spread that he sent an army to kill 3000 men suspected of sedition back home. Joseph and Mary assessed whether to go to Galilee another way where another son of Herod’s, Antipas, now reigned with a slightly less violent disposition than Herod. No good choices.
Sound familiar?

Arlene Violet is an attorney and former Rhode Island Attorney General.