The First Stone

The bishop invited all to rise and join him in a prayer of thanksgiving for the meal we were about to enjoy. I looked around the room at all the dignitaries and town leaders. I had to smile as I thought about how it happened that I was here among them. The credit goes to my wife, who has a knack for getting us involved.
It all started that morning while we were taking an early morning walk in a rural area outside of Naples. We were on an extended trip to Italy visiting with family. We had walked on the same quiet road for several days and had noticed an area that had been cleared and signs declared it to be the future site of the new local church. It had just been an empty lot on previous walks. This morning, however, was different. A large group of people were obviously preparing for a big ceremony. A stage made of pipes and boards had been erected and white linen lined the roof and backside. Hundreds of chairs were being opened in front of the stage in an area that had been freshly graded and graveled. Deeper into the lot, a large hole had been gouged out of the earth with an entry ramp that led to the bottom. There we signs proclaiming that this was the day that the “first stone” of the church would be laid.
We passed by the activity on our way down the road and on return, my wife suggested that we stop and see if they had arraigned for the event to be photographed. Since our retirement, we had volunteered our photographic services to many non-profits and had enjoyed being involved.
There was a group of men huddled around a priest and obviously, last minute plans and decisions we being made. As we approached the group, the priest received a phone call. We caught his attention and he finished his call. We introduce our selves and ask if they already had a photographer service lined up. The priest gasped and looking amazed said “Sent by God!!” They had just realized that a photographer had not been lined up and the last phone call was from the last local photographer, who had called to say he was out of town on a photo shoot. We became the official photographers for the event.

The old church was about a mile away. The event started with a procession of priest and parishioners that would walk down the main road to the new site. Each organization had their colorful banners. There was a marching group dressed in mid-evil costumes from Naples. They had huge flags that they swung and threw to each other skillfully. A complete marching band rounded out the effort.
When the procession reached to new site, the bishop and his entourage were waiting on the stage. Several hundred others that couldn’t brave the long walk were already seated. The Bishop and a number of other dignitaries got up and gave their speeches. After they had all spent themselves, the “first stone” was brought out and blessed. This was followed by a procession to the large hole, where the stone was mortared in the ground. As the last bit of mortar was being set, a huge fireworks display was set off. After the bishop and all the other local big wigs got photos taken, the crowd begin to disperse. We were returning to our car when my wife’s brother came up to us and quietly notified us that we had been invited to eat at the private lunch that had been prepared at a restaurant owned by one of the oldest families of the community. .
We proceeded to the restaurant where the multi coarse meal was nothing short of fabulous.
During the following week I edited all the photos and made three large albums, one each for the Bishop, the local priest and the restaurant owner who had hosted the meal.
It’s been over eighteen months since they laid that first stone. We were just back in Italy and noticed that they still hadn’t lain the second.

©2009