16 July

Dear Friends,

Last week George Meerveld very kindly took Adrienne and I on a visit to Zaanse Schans.

On our arrival we were captivated by the smell of chocolate wafting across from the factories and watched amazed as the bridge opened to allow a ship to pass through.

At Zaanse Schans village itself, we were fascinated by the old wooden houses and the windmills. We sampled lots of different cheeses, had our photograph taken wearing giant clogs and enjoyed a pancake lunch. 

Having a background in textiles, I was particularly interested in the Weaver’s House and saw how, in years gone past, the cloth was woven on hand looms for the windmill sails.

We went inside the De Kat paint mill, the busiest mill in the Netherlands, where the recipes of a certain Rembrandt van Rijn are used to produce the pigments for the paints!

Later, when reading up on Dutch windmills and their reliance on the wind, I came across this quote from John 3 v 8:

“The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is of everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

When we look at the footnotes in our NRSV pew Bibles, it tells us that ‘the same Greek word means both wind and spirit.’ Jesus is talking about how vital and necessary it is for each one of us to ‘be born of the Spirit.’

Having the Holy Spirit in our lives is as essential for us as the wind is for the windmills.

May each one of you know the blessing of God’s Holy Spirit in your lives,

Rev. Scott Guy

(Locum minister)