Signs of the Holy Spirit are not just stuff of Pentecost. God’s Spirit has been “with” God’s people since the beginning of human life when God breathed into us God’s spirit of awareness. From there, God has dwelled with patriarchs and prophets, kings and priests until God sent God’s only Son, God’s own Spirit, to move us and redeem us into restored relationship with God.
Why restoration? It has to do with that blessed tree.
The tree of Life. The serpent’s tree. Both and the same. The forbidden tree, the tree not to touch, the fruit not to consume, the barrier not to trespass, the “no” we couldn’t honor. The sign of the “tree” is complex. Not arbitrary but two-fold, the tree reminds us both of God’s creation and promise of life but also of our transgression and death.
In our scripture fo…