This church was huge. It’s the longest church in the Netherlands, they say; 123 metres long. We were there during the week, and as we walked around, listening to the organist’s music, I tried to imagine all the benches filled with people worshipping. The sound and sight would have been amazing.
The grandeur, the richness, the intricate work of the stained glass windows... I can’t put it into words very well, but it felt like the Christians who built this over 100s of years lived a greater devotion to God than I see in my time.
Which was a bit of a lonely thought.
As we left, we saw photographs from 1939 of the stained glass windows being taken down and stored in wooden cases in a sort of underground shed at a farm. There they made it safely through the war.
“Take a picture for cousin Peter,” said Kevin. “Wouldn’t he love to hammer on that organ.”
"...it felt like the Christians who built this over 100s of years lived a greater devotion to God than I see in my time." I think I understand what you're saying...that they were motivated and able to express their devotion to God in a magnificent way that we still stand in awe of, centuries later. And yet, in terms of heart devotion, I suspect that they were much the same as we are...wheat and tares mixed together in the church. And there was a lot of superstition because many didn't know the Scriptures (couldn't read, in fact). I wonder if that's why their visual representations of God and spiritual truth were so highly developed...kind of like when a blind person's hearing is often sharper to help compensate.
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