Leiden

Paul uses these words about relationships between Christians:

dissimulation: the act of concealing one’s true feelings, thoughts or intentions under a false “counterfeit” appearance, often called hypocrisy.

abhor: detest, loathe, despise

cleave: hold tightly to

Then this is how he says it: Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good… rejoice in hope, patient in tribulation; continuing in prayer.

Romans 12:9, 12. The whole chapter is a sermon preached by Paul 57/58 AD and remarkably useful today 2026.

Sketching to pass time on the ferry…

The past is ever present as we will see in this post.

Seven hours at sea between Harwich and Hoek van Holland, (199 miles/ 319km / 172 nautical miles) then 44 miles to Leiden a city in the Rhine Delta, Holland. At the heart of this city is Pieterskerk. Even before Leiden was a town the Counts of Holland had their earliest version of Pieterskerk, a chapel located centrally. The chapel grew and has been part of dramatic events. Two examples: a tower added in 1350 collapsed in 1512 and in 1572 most of the icons in the church were destroyed when Protestants took the city. The church also has a strong connection with English puritains in the 17th century who were persecuted in their homeland. They were allowed to settle here before undertaking their epic voyage to North America.

Today the church has a table laid out for a dinner. I asked who it was for and the answer was mostly in Dutch: ‘ It is for committee members who organised yesterday’s special day to celebrate liberation, after World War II.’

Pieterskerk has the graves of Rembrandt’s parents. They think they are near the pulpit and because I am paticularly interested in flower arranging, I will show you these unique flower arrangements placed on the table with quotes from Rembrandt.

‘Without atmosphere a painting is nothing.’

Pink peonies and oranges make this delightful end display.

‘Practice what you know, and it will help to make clear what now you do not know.’

What look like chrysanthemums or dahlias, go tall at an angle and lean down towards the table.The dark centres and angles give an unusual ‘look at us’ in this vast space.

‘Life etches itself onto our faces as we grow older, showing our violence, excesses or kindness.’

I confess I touched a petal on this next arrangement. Yes, they are all real. Again the florist draws one in to look. Unusual!

‘A honest man always values earning honor over wealth.’

There is much to know about this church but today I celebrate what will not be here next week. Let us go back into this delta city with its canals to see where Rembrandt spent three years learning to paint.

The 17th century building of Rembrandt’s first teacher, Jacob van Swanenburgh. Here his teacher discovered his ability to paint fire and water. His gift to master light and shadows. Leiden with its fine canals and the movement of shadows of his father’s mill sails must have all added to this fine observation of light and dark. He spent 25 years in Leiden. His life deserves more time it was filled with joy and pain but let us see the town a little, it is market day.

Cheese…

and a seagull wondering when the clients will come…

A windmill and bicycles…

Yes, we are in Holland today. Yorkshire has its fine stone walls, Berkshire has its hedges and today we are camping where fields are divided by canals and Hawthorn shrubs in bloom.

Thank you for reading our post. Roy and I are happy to share our experience of Leiden with you.

Take care,

Sandy 🙂