European Vacation

As some of you know, my wife and I have recently returned from three weeks in Europe. Our trip, for me, stirred memories of a trip we took many years ago – pre children and grandchildren – where we backpacked across Europe for three months, hitchhiking and by train, interspersed with a one month study session at an institute called L’Abri (The Shelter), which was run by Francis Schaeffer, an American theologian, and Hans Rookmaaker, a Philosophy professor from the Netherlands. It was while at L’Abri that my initial interest in art started and bloomed, sparked by the books of both of these men including Rookmaaker’s book, Modern Art and the Death of A Culture. I will get back to this.

Our trip this time began in Amsterdam where we spent our first three days just strolling the many streets, and visiting art museums like the Rijksmuseum, home of the famous Rembrandt painting “The Night Watch”. The painting is currently being restored. The task will take ten years, and often involves up to 15 people. The first phase involves stripping a lacquer coating. The painting is very large (12 feet by 14.3 feet), the size of a wall, and one person is able to strip twelve square centimeters of lacquer per day. Measure this to see how small an area it is. From there we boarded a ship for an eight-day Rhine River Cruise. There were one hundred and sixty six passengers and fifty five crew/staff. Needless to say, we were well cared for. I thought about describing some of the trip here and decided against that. There was so much that Marj and I loved about the trip. I will just say two things. The trip was spectacular, maybe my best holiday ever, and I highly recommend it. Alright, just a few more comments – the Rhine Gorge  was beautiful, so many castles and lovely towns; beautiful architecture and art, Gothic, Romanesque, Renaissance. There were many cathedrals and basilicas, which took on a tone, within me, of being spiritually moving. From our end point of the cruise, Basel, Switzerland, we travelled to Venice by train, then to Florence and Rome, and finally by air to Paris. Our train at one point reached a speed of 276 km/hr! So much to see, and partake in, but my personal focus was on the art galleries. We visited some of the most famous ones in the world besides the Rijksmuseum, including The Uffizi in Venice, the Accademia Gallery in both Florence and Venice, the Louvre in Paris (three days after the famous robbery), and the Musee d’Orsay in Paris. We also took time to visit the Vatican and Sistine Chapel. Paintings and sculptures included Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, David Van Gogh self portraits, and The Starry Night, and many others by Rembrandt, Leonardo di Vinci, and Michelangelo. The Louvre itself has approximately 380,000 pieces of art of which only 36,000 pieces are on display. It is a magnificent gallery, grandiose in every respect. Musee D’Orsay housed some of my favourite paintings which consisted of French Impressionism. The feature I love about these is that they portray a sense of being “more” than real life. They are real life portrayals plus something extra. But it was the Renaissance paintings that stirred me the most. The Renaissance, as most of you know, was a period of cultural and spiritual rebirth in Europe. This rebirth began in Italy. I can honestly say that amidst the large crowds (it is Italy’s Jubilee Year), the long lineups, the waiting and just being in another country, I was deeply moved spiritually by looking at the paintings.

Why was this? The explanation for me came from the art study I was involved in during our backpacking trip and also, an article I read in The Epoch Times newspaper recently. What one can see behind and within this form of art is the spiritual depth of the painters. Analyzing their thinking and motivation behind creating the many beautiful paintings, I was drawn into self examination which may have been similar to the painters. They took time to reflect and meditate on genuinely important things. Ambition and pretense were set aside. They were asking the big questions – Why am I here? Is there a God? Am I leading a worthy life? To do this properly, one has to sip, not gulp. And one would do well to connect with wisdom. What does this look like? It might look like reading Augustine’s Confessions, the wisdom books of the Bible like Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, and Psalms, or, this time of year, the four Gospel books in the Bible. These can all be a springboard for many today to deeper self examination and insight.

How does this all relate to art and to us then? All art has subtle yet profound effects on culture and art also reflects the culture of the day. By viewing art, one can very accurately determine the culture of the time, and the spiritual and moral condition of people. Now let me get back to my earlier life studies, which included time at L’Abri under Hans Rookmaaker. His book, which I mentioned earlier, had as its core theme, the idea that modern art reflects the spiritual and cultural crisis of Western civilization. What he was saying was that after Renaissance art, and Impressionism to a degree, art went into a downward spiral. Sure, there were artists like Picasso, but even his art, and most art, was far from being positively inspired and meaningful. Rather, modern art reflected fragmentation, despair and meaninglessness of people’s lives and the western world. To quote ChatGPT: Modern art did not cause the decline of the West, but rather exposed it. Rookmaaker goes on to say that, while modern art mirrors the spiritual decline of the West, spiritual life can flourish again. How is that to occur? It requires the recovery of a worldview that affirms meaning, beauty and the dignity of the human person. This would come through a Christian view, or vision, of reality, of the world we live in and an afterlife. Better yet, this would entail actual belief.

I was encouraged to see The Epoch Times write about this very theme. Some of the quotes from the Times are as follows:
- “Negative elements in art are the results of declining moral standards”.
- “The power of art is enormous. Good art can rectify the human heart, elevate morality, even enable humans to connect with the divine……Compared to the beauty of traditional arts, modern works are extremely ugly.”
- And finally from artist Eric Bess in Epoch, “Wisdom is the ability to discern truth, and truth is discernible only by way of God.”

So what is my point you ask me? It is this. Today, we live in a confused, chaotic, dysfunctional time in our western world. After decades of relative calm, the culture, our western world, seems to be slipping, or falling into a moral abyss. This move, obvious everywhere, was first evident in the arts, the modern arts which portrayed confusion and despair only to be followed in current culture by those very elements.

And the answer? We need to return to seeking purpose and meaning, and direction from God. We need to seek out God, who is He and am I able to relate with or be in relationship with Him? Only by returning to God will the Western world again be able to achieve its prior enlightenment, creativity, vigor, and proper cultural direction.

I wish each one of you a merry and meaningful Christmas, and rich blessings and purpose in 2026.

Written by Wayne Bernakevitch

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer and not necessarily those of RCAAN

Suggested Reading:
 Books cited in this blog.
 The Great Feminization – article by Helen Andrews
 Get Your Life Back by John Eldridge
 Unjustified, The Freedom Convey by Ray McGinnis