The word for "stand" in the language of signing is to place your index and third fingers upright on your palm, held flat, as if standing. When I first learned some signing years ago, the father of a deaf boy in my parish was amused to point out that even signing has its slang. There's a proper sign for "understanding," which derives its origin from the learning process it describes. But he noted that there is also a slang equivalent. You take the sign for stand, and turn it upside down.

How very appropriate that sign is for the Spirit's gift of understanding! This spiritual understanding defies gravity and reason; the conventional way of thinking is turned upside down.

So Peter's words to the crowd, which he knows includes many who called for Jesus' crucifixion, are not words of revenge…