On 24 December 1998, a Swedish newspaper published an article by well-known Swedish singer and poet Staffan Percy, relating an experience involving his friend, a priest.
A priest was on his way through the snow to church in the Gothenburg area of Sweden. Despite the fact that it was Christmas he walked with a heavy heart, conscious of how time-consuming paperwork and mediating church conflicts prevented him from preaching the happy Christmas message which meant so much to him. Overwhelmed by the difficulty of carrying out his mission in an atheistic society, he felt empty-hearted and alone.
A noise behind him made him turn and he saw an old moped passing him, as if in slow motion, in a cloud of exhaust fumes. There was a strong smell of oil. The rider, neither young nor old, wore a beige trenchcoat, a long scarf and a cap. He leaned the moped against the wall and entered the church, much to the priest's surprise as he had the key to the church in his pocket. He was even more surprised when he arrived at the great heavy door to find it still locked. He unlocked it and entered. Inside was darkness and quiet.
He shouted a tentative "Hello!" but heard no reply except his own echo. Seeing something lying near the altar, he came closer and found a trenchcoat, an elegantly folded-up scarf and a cap. He felt a presence, as though somebody was trying to tell him something. Suddenly enlivened, he raced child-like around the aisles and benches, searching. But there was no
one there, only the same emptiness and stillness. Running outside, he found the moped gone. By now trembling with happiness, he ran back into the church and stopped transfixed before the altar. The trenchcoat, scarf and cap were gone.
He left the church once more, searching for the tracks of feet or tyres in the snow. Finding only his own footprints, he felt all his earlier cares fade into insignificance.
The article closes with the questions: "Was it an angel on a moped? Or was it the Lord himself appearing?"
(Source: Eskilstuna-Kuriren, Sweden)
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