Postcard in my pocket...

I have a postcard in my pocket which I carry with me every where. It comes from from Bjärka-Säby_Castle which is now inhabited by a community, affiliated to the Pentecostal church in Sweden, led by Peter Halldorf.

The surroundings of the castle are majestic. The sense of the presence of God in the castle is awesome. It is mostly a retreat/conference centre but at the centre's heart is a Pentecostal/Orthodox expression of Christian faith.

It is impossible is adequately express here the sense of God there, and yet the postcard in my poscket reminds me of how I felt when I entered the 'Upper Room' at the top of the castle where the community share in a neo-Monastic pattern of worship with the Eucharist at it's heart.

The postcard in my pocket is an icon of Pentecost. It was written especially for the community. I love it because it references visually back to the events recorded for us in Acts 1. But I love it, because it is a contemporary expression of that outporing of the Holy Spirit.

I have taken that story back to the UK as a memory, as a story and as an image. All three continue to inspire my own Christian journey.