When I was a teenager I loved ghost stories and even went to one or two places that allegedly were haunted. Fortunately I never did find a ghost!

This coming weekend coincides with what older readers may remember as Whitsuntide - now usually called Pentecost, after the original Jewish festival which took place 50 days after Passover.

The disciples were waiting for ‘power from on high’ to help them in their task of spreading the ‘good news’ about the risen Jesus.

On that Pentecost Day, often called the ‘birthday of the Christian Church’, the Holy Spirit came from heaven with a sound ‘like a mighty wind’ and like ‘flames’ above their heads. Scary stuff!

Many people wonder what the Holy Spirit, aka the Holy Ghost, is all about.

Hearing talk of a ghost or a spirit will either make you cynical, if you are a rationalist, or afraid, if you’ve heard too many scary ghost stories. Yet the Holy Spirit turned out to be very real and far from scary.

Jesus had helped the disciples to see God as a loving Father and in the person of Jesus the disciples realised that God was living right alongside them as a human being. Now, through the Holy Spirit, God came even closer to live right inside them!

Today God’s Spirit is still at work in folk’s hearts - bringing us to Jesus, helping us to know the Father and giving us power to live the Christian life.

Andy McMullon

Vicar of Sedbergh