"And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the Paul Waters"
Alistair Darbey, Religious Education teacher at the Broxbourne School,1976

Dear Alistair, if you should ever read this, I hope you won't mind me immortalising your sad little joke. Incredible that I even remember it - I don't suppose you do. But in a way it was rather prophetic.

Whitsun, or Pentecost as it is also called, is about the Holy Spirit. Alistair's joke was taken from the very beginning of the Bible, the creation story in Genesis, and that shows that the Spirit of God has always been active in the world, right from the start. But it seems that only a few chosen people ever experienced his presence directly. Until, that is, Jesus rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven. Then the Spirit fell on the disciples, and they were never the same again.

The disciples were inspired, empowered, overwhelmed. They spoke of the Holy Spirit living in them, guiding them, speaking to them. They spoke of his power, and they did tremendous things, like healing people, or speaking foreign languages. They could say "It's no longer I that live, but Jesus lives in me". Because the presence of the Spirit, and the presence of Jesus, and the presence of God were all in a way the same. And they said that this direct experience of the divine was available to everyone.

I've never healed the sick, or raised the dead, or anything so dramatic. But I know that the Spirit of God lives in me, too. It's mystical, if you like, but very natural. He is always there, nudging me in the right direction, teaching me about God's way, giving me an earfull when I'm on the wrong track. Filling me with wonder, because my primary response to God will always be the same: How could almighty God, the creator of the universe, ever be interested in me, a speck of dust on the face of a tiny planet in his enormous cosmos? How could he bear my pain, forgive my wrong-doing? How could he, even spiritually, live his life through me?

But he does. And that's the Spirit

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