Traveling Jesus in Haverhill, NH.
James Taber
January 01, 2026
The Christmas season for me is a mixed bag, I hate the over-the-top commercialization of it. I love Christmas trees, Christmas dinner and the more traditional aspects of Christmas. During the holiday season I often reflect on my time spent in Israel and particularly in Jerusalem. It is like a history book that has come alive. I also think of my mother who was a woman of faith raised in a strict Sicilian Catholic family, and her "Traveling Jesus'.
So naturally when I was in Jerusalem, I said to myself I have to get mother something from here. So when I had some downtime from my military duties I wandered around the streets and shops keeping an eye out for something that might suit my purpose. One day I wandered into a shop full of wood carvings. A nicely hand carved olive wood figure of Jesus caught my eye and I immediately decided that would be my gift for my mother.
After a little negotiating and figuring out the Israeli currency I purchased the wooden figurine. From the time I purchased it to the time I actually made it home to visit my parents was over two years! That statue accompanied me through many different countries, and many different climates from the blistering heat in the Middle East to the frozen Sondheim Fjord in Norway.
It even crossed the Equator and the Arctic Circle with me. It occurred to me one night when I was laying in my bunk on the ship during a raging storm at sea that it's probably not a bad thing to have Jesus in your bunk with you!.
I finally made it home and gave the statue to my mother who absolutely loved it and kept it beside her bed in her bedroom for decades. When she passed away at the age of 89 the statue was given back to me. At the time whenever I looked at it it made me sad thinking about my mother. So, when I came up to Haverhill one weekend, I brought it with me and asked my sister Rosie if she would hold onto it for me which she did.
Now it sits in her beautiful home in Haverhill, New Hampshire. A quiet presence sitting on a shelf with most people having no idea where it came from and what it went through to get on that shelf. But I know and looking at it no longer makes me sad it makes me happy that it is in such a beautiful home, and I know that would make mother happy.
I hope everyone has a great Christmas filled with fun, food, and family.
So naturally when I was in Jerusalem, I said to myself I have to get mother something from here. So when I had some downtime from my military duties I wandered around the streets and shops keeping an eye out for something that might suit my purpose. One day I wandered into a shop full of wood carvings. A nicely hand carved olive wood figure of Jesus caught my eye and I immediately decided that would be my gift for my mother.
After a little negotiating and figuring out the Israeli currency I purchased the wooden figurine. From the time I purchased it to the time I actually made it home to visit my parents was over two years! That statue accompanied me through many different countries, and many different climates from the blistering heat in the Middle East to the frozen Sondheim Fjord in Norway.
It even crossed the Equator and the Arctic Circle with me. It occurred to me one night when I was laying in my bunk on the ship during a raging storm at sea that it's probably not a bad thing to have Jesus in your bunk with you!.
I finally made it home and gave the statue to my mother who absolutely loved it and kept it beside her bed in her bedroom for decades. When she passed away at the age of 89 the statue was given back to me. At the time whenever I looked at it it made me sad thinking about my mother. So, when I came up to Haverhill one weekend, I brought it with me and asked my sister Rosie if she would hold onto it for me which she did.
Now it sits in her beautiful home in Haverhill, New Hampshire. A quiet presence sitting on a shelf with most people having no idea where it came from and what it went through to get on that shelf. But I know and looking at it no longer makes me sad it makes me happy that it is in such a beautiful home, and I know that would make mother happy.
I hope everyone has a great Christmas filled with fun, food, and family.
James Taber standing in front of The Wailing Wall in Jerusalem with the Traveling Jesus in his left hand.
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