the Holy Spirit, God's gift to us, enlivening us and filling us with grace, descended upon the newborn church after Jesus' ascension to heaven. but the Holy Spirit was with the world from the beginning, when the spirit of God moved on the waters before the creation of the world, speaking through the prophets as the nicene creed teaches, and indeed, as being the agency through which the incarnation was accomplished.

spirit, breath, and wind are really all the same word, and this is the image: the mighty powerful, yet invisible, influence of God, which blows where it will and which cannot be controlled. we see the Holy Spirit through the effects wrought thereby. it is not the wind we see, but the branches blowing; it is not the Spirit we see, but acts of loving service and prophetic witness.

the Spirit enlivens the christian community, and binds us together. the church is a holy assembly spread through all the world, which is identified by the apostle Paul as the body of Christ: as Jesus own self continuing still. indeed, anywhere the Spirit is found, the body of Christ is made. and because we are not stopped by death, because the Spirit is life, this church is bound together among both the living and the dead, who enjoy communion and fellowship here and now.

as the Spirit enlivens us and transforms us, lifting us to new heights where we could not be on our own, our souls and our bodies are transformed. we are made saints: we are made holy. our bodies are raised from the decay of death, and we know that the Spirit cannot be defeated. rather, the victory of Christ has defeated the last enemy, which is death, and we can be all that God intended us to be from the beginning.