This week’s passage is about Paul and Silas in prison and the subsequent faith and baptism of the gaoler. (Picture from FreeBibleImages.org)
Like many passages in the New Testament, we see God the Father clearly (“These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation!”) and we see God the Son clearly (“I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her”) but to see God the Spirit we need to peer more closely.
She* is at work in regeneration and bringing to faith the gaoler and his family, and in the comforting of Paul and Silas in their chains. But it is typical of the Spirit that her work is ‘behind the scenes’. That does not imply any inferiority – if we think of a West End show, the people who make it happen are the writers, directors and stage managers, all of whom are never seen.
To help us think about the work of the Holy Spirit – our writer, director and stage manager – here is a fabulous, foldable, tri-tetra-flexagon!
This simple craft folds to make a square (that’s the ‘tetra’ bit) which has not just a back and a front, but a third side (that’s the ‘tri’ bit), hidden until you look for it!
*She??
Why the surprise? God’s not a bloke, remember. God’s Spirit is often depicted with feminine imagery and in Hebrew uses feminine verb forms. Check out this vid for more info.
Here’s how to do it.
- Print out or draw the shape below. If you want to draw it on A4, you can make the squares 6cm on each side.
- Cut it out and crease along all lines.
- Bend the left side backwards along the line marked.
- Bend the right side forwards along the line marked.
- Glue the overlapping squares.
- Decorate the front in shades of green for creation and write words you associate with the work of God the Father.
- Turn it over and decorate the back with shades of blue and words you associate with God the Son.
- To find the hidden face, start with the green side and fold the left and right edges away from you.
- Pull open from the centre to reveal the third side of the square. Decorate this with fiery colours and words you associate with God the Spirit.
The Reflectionary 