Heritage Column for December 22, 2005
By Fred Anderson
“For God so loved the world that he gave…” During this season we have decorated our Christmas tree with some of the many ornaments which we have been accumulating over the years. Several of them were gifts through the years from a dear friend, Frances Appel, who always selected some beautiful ornament for the members of her Sunday school class. One of those is a cross made in the Holy Land from olive wood.
We added a new ornament this year. While in Naples, Italy, on my summer sabbatical, our hosts, Anna Maffei and her husband, Massimo Aprile, gave us an ornament which is in the shape of a bell. When opened, it reveals a pewter-like nativity. As we placed it on the tree, we remembered our experiences with Anna and Massimo.
Anna is the president of the Italian Baptist Union and her office helped plan our itinerary as we visited among the Italian Baptist churches. We stayed in several “foresterias” which was a new word to us. Actually it is an ancient word which referred to guest quarters usually for a stranger and often outside the city walls.
In today's world it is a guest accommodation. The one in Naples was located in a busy part of the city; and the incessant noise, oppressive heat (in a country where air-conditioning is a rarity) and the sudden occurrence of a common tourist ailment all combined to make a dreadful experience.
When my wife became ill, I telephoned Anna; and she, in turn, telephoned her friends, the Sisters of St. Bridgett whose convent is located high atop a mountain overlooking Naples. It instantly was cooler on the mountaintop. Nancy rested and I enjoyed exploring the 14th-century convent which included a Baroque chapel dripping with gold-gilt angels.
The nuns raised all their own vegetables; and at the end of the gardens was the view from the overlooks which was breathtaking with its vast panorama of city, bay and sea. Somewhere out on the horizon was Capri. Dominating one side was Vesuvius.
Anna and Massimo took public transportation up the mountain to visit us. We sat at the overlook and enjoyed the view and good conversation with new-found friends. When Anna mentioned that Naples was the center of the nativity and crèche craft, Nancy suddenly began to recover as the visions of shopping filled her head.
We journeyed with our friends by bus down into the city. We walked through the narrow streets and looked at many of the handmade nativity sets. We found a set which we liked. It was made of clay and papier-mâché and we decided to fill our suitcase with the nativity figures.
The accompanying crèche was too expensive and the cost to ship was exorbitant. Anna had an idea. She told us to make a snapshot of the crèche we liked and to ask one of our sons to make one for us.
From the shops we made our way to our hosts' apartment. It was a large and airy apartment in the heart of old Naples. Their eldest son, a gifted pianist and composer, was playing the baby grand. Their other son, a lively and personable young man, was animated about his forthcoming trip with other Italian Baptist youth to visit Virginia for the missions partnership.
The delicate nativity figures somehow survived the trip; and at Thanksgiving our son, Chris, surprised us with a magnificent reproduction of the crèche which he had made from the snapshot. He put stucco on the walls and his wife, Dorothy, painted exposed bricks on the walls. It was every bit as fine as the ones in Naples.
The best gifts are never the actual items themselves. The wooden ornaments from our friend, Frances Appel, only remind us of the countless acts of kindness which she has showered upon us across the years. When we were newcomers to the city, she and her husband, Wesley, quickly “put us to home.”
The little pewter nativity ornament from our Italian friends is a valued reminder of them. We forever will appreciate having shared the warmth of their personalities. They made themselves vulnerable by hosting strangers and they opened their door to give a glimpse into Italian family life. They displayed a natural compassion and caring.
The crèche made from our son's head and hands also came from his heart. Our two sons, Chris and Matt (who also freely gives of himself), are the fulfillment of every parent's dream. They have grown into independent mature adults with families of their own yet they have remained in relationship with their parents.
The best gifts are the gifts of relationship, of mutual caring and concern, of feelings too deep for words. In John 3:16 we hear the proclamation that God so loved that He gave and what He gave was the gift of relationship between the Almighty and the apex of His creation – the human.
At Christmas we join Christians everywhere in celebration of the gift which appeared in the form of a baby in a manger and placed us in relationship with the Father.