"My God says that ... wait, I'll translate while I read.", I tell him and start to translate my Dutch bible into English while reading the two first chapters of Genesis. "Where I come from there are only humans. Before I came here I had never even seen an orc.", I told him, "But I'm sure that God has made everything here too and that at some point, someone let evil in and things changed. Before what we call the fall, where the humans disobeyed God for the first time, all animals ate grass and the herbs of the field. Only after that one started hunting after another. And when God comes again, and the peace will return, the wolf will lie next to the lamb, and the baby will play with the viper, and there will be no grief."
I wait for a bit and look at him, and then I smile. "There is a way for you to know for sure. You can ask God to show more of him to you if He is real. But the thing is that He can show you in lots of ways. You need to really expect it."
"Maybe we can ask together?" I asked him.
"So, your god made everything good, but it broke? But he's going to fix it?"
He agrees to pray with you, although he is a bit nervous about talking to a god. "Father says that shamans talk to the gods, because they know how. He says the humans have their priests, which is just another word for shamans. I don't know how to talk to a god."
--M. J. Young
I smiled in surprise at the simple summary he made. "Yeah, that's about it.", I wanted to go deeper in on it but that's not what the boy needed, it would only be more confusing to say some parts are and some aren't fixed already. Besides, it's quite mystical, the working of the cross and the kingdom in our lives even today. I'm not sure if I can put it to words. While we do have evil still, the victory is already there, sometimes visible. But if he converts, we'll have plenty of time to go into that. Now was a time to pray.
I told him the parable of the pharisee and the tax collector at the temple. How the pharisee used big words to pray and the tax collector just poured his hart out to God, with all his faults and weaknesses and with real tears and everything. And how God was pleased with the tax collector and not at all with the pharisee.
If you speak with God, just be sure that you pray from your hart. That what you say is real. "It's a bit like talking to me, but then the difference is that He knows your hart, and you can't see Him. But sometimes you can feel Him.", I told him.
"I'll start, and then, after that, you can pray out loud.", I told him. "I got down on my knees. "This is not a requirement, but I like to kneel when I pray.", I told him. "Do you mind if I put my hand on your shoulder when I pray?", I asked him.
If he objects I wont lay my hand on him.
Then I closed my eyes and started and breathed out through my nose. I relaxed. "Dear Lord," I started, "I've got my friend Qormlach here besides me. Before I spoke of You he had never heard of You. And now I've told Him about You Lord, a strange God and a kind God. A Servant and a King and a Father. All very confusing to Qormlach, I can guess."
"His people have different gods and even the other humans here never heard of You. But He's willing to take the chance and get to know You. Please reveal Yourself to him. Like You revealed Yourself to Abraham and to Isac and to Jacob. So that You can be his God too.
Let Him see that You are real, God, please. Thank you..."
I then waited for Qormlach to drop in. I tried to expect God to move as best as I could. I tried to be as expectant as I could.
"Nikolaj's God, I do not even know your name, but if what Nikolaj says is true then you know mine, and you want me to know you, too. Show me if it is true."
--M. J. Young
As Qormlach prayed, I silently whispered along, praying in tongues. After waiting for a wile and stretching out my feelings to the Lord, if He didn't give instructions or visibly worked with His Spirit in Qormlach's heart, I said "Amen!". Then I looked at Qormlach and told Him, "that's how we end a prayer."
Depending on how the prayer works out, I will react with one of the following.
1. Clear success: Rejoice! Start talking about redemption. Repenting of sin, accepting the grace. I'll use the wordless book again for that.
2. Nothing happened: "Expect the Lord to work one of these days. He might reveal Himself to you in many ways." I would pray for revelation for Qormlach that evening before going to bed.
3. Reverse effect: Start telling about satan and how he tries to lure us away from Christ.
Nothing happens. Your own prayers seem hindered, as if you are being opposed.
--M. J. Young
That makes for option 2. But due to the opposition I'm going to combine it with option three.
Nothing happened: "Expect the Lord to work one of these days. He might reveal Himself to you in many ways." I would pray for revelation for Qormlach that evening before going to bed.
Reverse effect: Start telling about satan and how he tries to lure us away from Christ.
"Also Qormlach, it seems as if something is working against us. One of the great servants of God once thought that he could be better then God. For this he got punished and cast out of God's kingdom. He always wants revenge, also by letting people not believe in God. He, or one of his minions, is trying to work against us. So keep praying and keep expecting. I'm quite confident that God will reveal Himself to you.", I told him.
That evening I prayed to the Lord for protection of what is opposing me and through prayer tried to reveal my enemy. (I've got some experience with that, through vision, in symbolics). I've read and heard stories of it being witchdoctors sometimes, when I hear from evangelists from Africa.
Please clarify a few points for me.That evening I prayed to the Lord for protection of what is opposing me and through prayer tried to reveal my enemy. (I've got some experience with that, through vision, in symbolics).
- The first part is for "protection". That would suggest to me that you are under attack, or anticipate being under attack, but to this point the situation is rather that your "attacks" (by prayer) have been opposed. It might be that you are using the word "protection" in a way that I am not grasping, or it might be that you are looking for preemptive protection, getting protection in place in anticipation of a possible attack. Which do you have in mind?
- The second seems to be an application of your 1@2 Dreams and Visions M7@6 usually as guidance or answers to prayers, that God answers you with information (much as we saw with the revelation of the place Gaia holds). You mention that it might be a mortal enemy that is opposing you; obviously there is a spirit enemy (our "Prince of Persia" as opposed Daniel's angel). It is possible that the spirit enemy was sent by a mortal enemy, or by a higher spirit enemy; it is possible that the spirit enemy is independent. What do you expect your vision to reveal in these cases?
- Is this one prayer to do two things, or two prayers prayed in sequence? The primary difference is that with one prayer, all results stand or fall together, while with two prayers either could be answered. Also, if you use discrete prayers for each request, you can use them separately in the future, whereas if you combine them, doing them separately would be different "skills".
- How long are you praying, and if they're separate, how long for each?
- I'm assuming that previous comments about position apply here.
--M. J. Young
Since the prayer didn't 'work', and you described that they seemed hindered, as being opposed, my character assumes there is an enemy opposing us. Therefore he prays for protection against that possible enemy. To my character, the thought that he is on the offense never really comes up. He rather feels that his freedom is being infringed upon.
Qormlach was showing promise and then nothing happens, followed by the sense of opposition. That makes him think that the enemy has 'found out' and is sending out his troops to sabotage this attempt of mine, thus I pray for protection, anticipating an attack, while thinking I'm already in the battle.
In my experience the revealing of the enemy is almost always a bonus to another prayer. Once I prayed for a deeper understanding of a prophecy I had spoken out over someone in our church and relived the vision, but that time also seeing a threat and an enemy, then I prayed for a a deeper revelation of that enemy.
Another time we were praying for our government and suddenly an occult sign pops into my head and I immediately know/sense that certain people (who I do not know) are bound (the sign was a pentagram with a chain that was at the same time in and out of the center of the pentagram. Very strange, as if I could go deeper into the sign or that it did not let itself be set to two dimensions. Then throughout the week, through continued prayer and searching I slowly found out more about it.
You can treat it as a separate prayer, the identification, but it is usually in response to what I have seen or sensed before. (I've had more experience then the above two, almost always with vision and sometimes got assaulted in my dreams, when I then prayed for protection the next day before going to bed, the assault was finished.)
I expect a visualization of the enemy in visions while I pray. Or slow revelation throughout the coming days. I don't expect to see a clear face of someone, although I have had that once. But I rather expect a symbolic representation.
As to what kind of an enemy I expect, I expect a spirit being such as the prince of Persia or I expect a witchdoctor or a group of them. Or something along those lines. I've heard of people praying and suddenly before them in smoke or water or something a figure appeared and told them to stop bringing the gospel or the witchdoctors would destroy them.
The prayers are at least 15 minutes, though I might press on to an hour. I generally go until I get some result. Eyes closed, kneeling is optional, but usually I do although I might as well just sit on a chair or a bed with my hands folded instead of kneeling.
You feel the assurance that you are loved and protected.
As you pray for the knowledge, a vision starts to form; but it is abruptly snatched away by a black and red hand which grabs the fuzzy image and pulls it away from you.
You know that God is trying to send you the information, but you find yourself falling asleep.
As your consciousness is fading, you hear a voice. It startles you to wakefulness for a moment, but no one is speaking. The voice said, "Its name is Sarne."
You awaken in the middle of the night from a disturbing dream, in which you had a passing image, more focused than the one from the disrupted vision but also more fleeting. The being is similar to an orc, but with attributes of a warlike demon, blood dripping from teeth and nails. It scowls at you and vanishes.
--M. J. Young
I'm going to let go of writing in the past as it if has happened. I think it will work better if I write in the now.
As I wake up I am quite taken aback. I rummage blindly through my stuff in search of the flashlight. As I find it I then search for some loose papers and write down all I saw and if possible I try do draw out what I remember of him looking like. Then I write it's name under it. -Sarne-
If someone else is awake and startled and asks about the light, I tell him that I've come to bring an even greater light, "but not one to be seen like this," I tell him while wiggling with the flashlight, "it's a light that shines in the hart. Do you want to know it?" If they do, I'll tell them of the "Light of the world".
Then I pray for protection again and lay me down to sleep again.
The next day I would ask Qormlach if he has ever heard about that Sarne. I would ask the other orc servants about him as well.
I start the day with a prayer though, for protection for both me and Qormlach and for God to manifest himself to Qormlach should He have not have done that in the dreams of Qormlach this night, or on any other way.
I start the day with a joke again and work in the shop. After that I meet with Qormlach again to ask if God showed Himself to him.
You have a high level of confidence as you leave the bunks in the morning.
On your way to breakfast, though, you suddenly feel a constriction, as if something invisible were trying to grab you but failed to get a hold.
A few seconds later it happens again.
--M. J. Young
I'm startled at first, but then I have to think about a story a friend of me told me, about when he was evangelizing in some country and then a guy came at them and cursed them. They felt real bad to their stomach, but they gave it to God and stood in His protection. When they were back the next day, they could see that sorcerer become very pale and frightened, and they continued to bring the gospel there.
I make sure that I am still in the authority of Christ and assure myself of my salvation. I run over the spiritual battle gear. I go sit against a tree or little wall besides the road and fling open my bible. I know Ephesians 6 well. I meditate and pray it through.
"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;"
At every verse I check if it is OK and how it connects. I am very encouraged that it states that this explicitly states protection from principalities and powers, and that it will make me stand.
At every part I meditate upon the state with me. Do I stand in my redemption, am I girded in Truth, what does that mean, etc, etc...
"This seems all to be alright, except that I don't know any saints here to pray for, except maybe Qormlach, who is well on his way to become one."
Not knowing anyone for whoem to intercede, I intercede for Qormlach and then switch to tonges, reminding myself that Gaia called me fellow servant. Thus I pray intercession for her too.
This will probably take about an hour. (the entire package)
Then I proceed with what I stated in the previous post, unless something comes up.
As you begin to pray, you feel a force pressing outward around you. There are still attacks, but they do not penetrate.
After five minutes, you feel a force shoot from you like a blade, impacting you do not know what. It finds a mark, though.
You begin the passage again, working through it as before. Still the attacks continue, but this time as you reach the end of your prayer the power that rushes from you is twice what it was. You hear, not physically but very definitely, a scream of anguish, and sense your enemy limping away from you.
The attacks cease.
As you pick yourself up, Qormlach runs over.
"Wow," he says, then shakes himself. "Just, wow. I saw that demon attack you, and you started reading from that book, and another being, like a woman but all greenish-white and glowing, appeared and held the demons hands away from you. And then a thing like a spear, but all spearpoint and no shaft, sprang from the being in white and struck the demon. The demon continued to struggle against her, trying to get you, but she grew stronger, held him more firmly, and struck him again. Then he--he fell to the ground and crawled away as she glared after him.
"Was that your God?"
--M. J. Young
Dude! Awesome! Wow!
I stand up and grin, quickly thanking God as I see the excited Qormlach running towards me, telling me of what I saw.
I smile, as I am a bit worn. I feel as if I have to get my thoughts together again. All the action has gotten me to focus badly, and now that the fight is over, my attention dismantled and started hopping around my brain quite happy to have some freedom again.
"Heh," I smiled. "That will teach him to try and mess with a servant of God.
I did not see what you saw, Qormlach, God has revealed the spirit world to you.", I tell him.
"As I hear you tell it, it seems like Gaia came to help me. She serves God too. The power though is that which God gave us. I felt it burst from me like a sword or a beam. It could have been another being, like an angel, that was aiding me. Angels are spirit being in service of God, a bit like Gaia, I think. But I don't really know much about the spiritual world and it's beings. I too, have much to learn. But yes, you saw the Power of my God. If you would have seen my God in the face, it might have gotten you killed, because of His power and holiness. There once was a man who saw much of God, yet not His face, and his own face started to shine from it. I might tell you about it sometime. At least I plan to. But now, I have to thank God."
And thus I will do what I said and thank God and praise Him. I invite Qormlach to join in and if he wants, to accept God as his Lord.
Afterwards I contact Gaia again.
I put my hand to the ground and generally do everything I did before and speak:
"Hey Gaia, I'm not worhipping you or anything, but it seemed as if you came to my assistance in the attack. I just want to thank you for your help. May the Lord bless you ... in a way that is an appropriate blessing for a Spirit Being. May your lands always be fruitful and be good to life."
ooc: that probably is two skills, right? Contact Spirit being and Convey Blessing (or something like that)
I agree that that's two skills, one you've done before, and the other a new one.
You pray your blessing on the earth, and feel the warmth of the ground beneath you. Qormlach prays alongside you.
--M. J. Young
Did Qormlach convert? (if he's praying with me I assume so. I'll be rejoicing.) I explain Qormlach that this was not praying to Gaia, in a sense as she would be a Goddess we serve, but I tell him that this is as if I would be praying for him, blessing him. I hope he gets that. I don't want to start this world's form of worshiping Mary...
Assuming Qormlach converted, I'll meet him after work again, while during work I'll be tossing winks and smiles to him.
I'll be starting to teach him more profoundly about God now. About the cross and sin and forgiveness. About baptism and the Holy Spirit, prayer... (this will be ongoing, every day after work. I do not see the need to play it all out.)
Basically I'm planning on preparing him to be a leader. He'll have a better chance of reaching the rest on the slaves then I will have. And should I go on to the next world, he can take over.
I resume the rest of the day as described above. with the change that the talks with Qormlach will become more of a discipleship's training. I will still look for info about Sarne, and I will use what I know about him from the dream and the fight and I will use the picture I made the night before, if it came out right.
In the evening I'll be playing the Uke again, picking songs that will connect to the people around me. I'll see if I can get them curious about those lyrics (they're all christian).
When you say that you are looking for information about Sarne, what does that mean? You've not seen a library here, so I would guess you are asking someone--but who?
--M. J. Young
The next day I would ask Qormlach if he has ever heard about that Sarne. I would ask the other orc servants about him as well.
:)
I would also use the drawing I made of Sarne after the dream
Qormlach has never heard of Sarne. However, the drawing you show him looks like the being that was attacking you.
The only god anyone besides you every talks about here on the ranch is Gaia. It's forbidden to speak of the gods of the orcs, and none of the older orcs ever do.
--M. J. Young
The older orcs didn't change in their facial expression, attitude etc while I showed them the picture?
Anyways, I refocus on the discipleship of Qormlach, assuming he converted (as I haven't gotten any affirmation from you whether or not he did. Seeing as he backed me up in prayer I assume he did.) I go over the wordless book with him and tell him again what it takes to serve God and Christ, and what we gain and why we do it, not for our own gain, but for the glory of God. And out of His love we want the others to partake in the salvation that is possible.
My days from now on are like this.
From waking:
1. Right out of bed I grab the bible and do my devotions and prayers for one to two hours.
These include intercession for Qormlach and a request for guidance and protection and a blessed day. I will probably read up to (not always) three chapters of the bible book I'm in every day. The prayer and reading isn't very structured and might mingle and mix.
2. Then it's breakfast and coffee.
3. Off to the workshop to work and learn from Master Robert. I'll keep up joking with Qormlach, and if master Robert can appreciate jokes, I'll include him in the fun. Yet he is higher then me, and if I haven't any sign that he lets me get close, I won't push it.
4. Discipleship Training for Qormlach.
If, after going through the wordless book again, he wants to officially follow Jesus, I'll see if I can baptize him somewhere. If he wants his parents or friends to witness it, he is free to invite them. Should there be a baptism, I would explain to viewers what's happening, and make it an opportunity for evangelism, as the basics will be explained and Qormlach can give his testimony.
5. Dinner (social time)
6. Time for the Ukulele, or drawing, painting or other creative audiovisual expression. I might try a portrait of Qormlach when I think I'm ready for it. If my roommates at the barracks would want a portrait to send to their loved ones, I'll be happy to try and capture them on paper.
7. Intercessory prayer and prayer for protection for the night. 30 minutes - 1 hour.
Let's make it so that my jacket is finished by now and I'm ready for my next lesson. (that would make this the start of week 4 I think) I will also inquire with master Robert if he has news of a trading trip being planned.
In my spare time I'm going to try and find people dealing in or dying fabric and see if I can manage to get some fabric in yellow, black, red, white and green, (all 1 square centimeter, but I'll take as much as they want to give me). I'll offer to make a portrait of the vendor (and his family) to trade for it.
I'm also collecting 30 stones of equal size and paint half of them (15) white, and the other half black. Unless I find an abundance of stones in two different colors. Then I'll introduce some of the men in the barracks to checkers, if they don't know it yet. If I've seen them playing it, I will not make my own set.
You didn't mention showing the picture to the older orcs; you showed it to Qormlach while the two of you were alone outside. You don't really have much contact with many other orcs, although there are a couple who work under Big Robert's direction in the leatherworking area, and a few who deliver the food (but do not serve it) at the working men's meals (the orcs eat separately and elsewhere).
I would say yes, Qormlach is definitely a believer in "your God, the Creator". He hasn't gotten to the point that he would dare to call him "my God" or "our God", but he's definitely embraced the message.
Robert is friendly enough with you, but he does not socialize with orcs and disapproves of you doing so, even with Qormlach.
Close to the house there are only the troughs by the pumps, mostly for washing up. Qormlach is small enough that you could immerse him in one of these, but you would have to be kneeling next to it to do so. There are a few ponds on the ranch which serve primarily as watering holes for the sheep, fed by some shallow brooks. Qormlach is assigned to the leather shop, so he's never been as far as any of them and does not have permission to leave the area around the house.
You finish your jacket, but it's not at all very nice work. Robert says not to worry about it, because it takes time to get good at these things, and the jacket is at least functional. He thinks he can deal with the problems and make it useful.
The only trader who comes through is dealing in metal--tools and jewelry and other products of the dwarf lands, hoping to pick up leather goods on the way through to trade with the elves for produce. He has no cloth goods. There are presently no plans for a trading trip to town, as far as Robert is aware.
--M. J. Young
I didn't mention that, I know ... I intended to. My bad.
Before going for baptism, I explain Qormlach again that my God is also hid God. That He is our father. In my prayer that evening I include that God would reveal Himself to Qormlach as a personal God. Just as He made Himself known as a personal God to Joseph at Bethel.
I frown at the jacket and observe as master Robert makes the changes to it. (throughout the week probably)
I find my precious stones and rings and some of my more mechanic stuff, such as the camera and my writing equipement, and go over to the dwarven trader. If one of my rings is Gold, I'll keep it and if any of my stones is green, red, black or transparent or white I'll keep it and not trade anything. I do inquire at what he has brought to trade.
Further on I'll keep the schedule as laid out in my previous post.
-- Second Post
As for the trader, I might be interested in things along the line of:
inks, paints, pigments
books
a set of fine woodcarving tools (to make woodblocks to print with)
interesting gizmo's/gadgets, related to artistic use or that are creative/innovating, fun
unknown, unusual and/or funny musical instruments. (or anything unusual, unknown or funny for that matter)
-- Third post, sorry
I just thought about this, how can there not be a cloth merchant in a city which main profession is shepherd. There should at least be wool, right?
It would be a mistake to think of the place where you are as a "city" or even a "village", really. There are no merchants here at all.
But you are correct that they produce wool, which they spin into thread and yarn and so have on spools or skeins. There is a bit of weaving done by the women, mostly, but very little product comes from this. The raw yarn and thread are traded for other goods, along with the leather goods, meat, and some dairy products (from the goats). The wool is all raw, not bleached white nor dyed other colors, although they do separate black wool from white wool from blended (that is, the wool of all-black or all-white animals is kept separate, while the wool from mixed black-and-white animals is used mixed). They also separate goat's wool from sheep's wool, and again separate lamb's and kid's wool from that of adult animals.
The community here functions something similar to that of a medieval castle. There are the landowners and the serfs and the slaves. The serfs are treated more like children of the landowners than like the slaves, but not quite as the landowners' own children. In exchange for your labor, you receive room, board, clothing, and all your basic needs, plus some of the profit that comes from your labor, in the form of material goods above your needs. It thus is something like a commune, something like a village, something like a family, something like a feudal manor, and yet different from all of these as they are from each other.
Where are you going to baptize Qormlach?
I am assuming that your references to your equipment refer to these listings:
- $1445 B Monster Movie value in gold and silver coins, rings, necklaces
- Folding camp shovel
- Portable water filtration system with sealable bottle
- 6" blade sheath knife
- Flashlight, recharging by physical motion
- Tripod for camera
- Photographic developing gear with chemicals (black & white)
- Camera, still photography
- Cell Phone
- Keys of my appartment and my sister's apartement (including one key that doesn't work because it's from a changed lock, I've got the new one though) and a key from my fathers barbershop.
- Laptop (Microsoft)
- 2 memorysticks (1 Gb and 128 Mb) Mac and Pc compatible
- Keys
- A lunchbox (before lunch it will be filled and afterwards it will be empty)
Incidentally, the trader is not a dwarf; he is a human who travels between the dwarf lands and the elf lands, which border west and east, respectively, of the human lands.
Most of what the trader has is farm implements. The Kuchers trade some of the wool for a hoe, a shovel, a pick, and a new axe; they get the last axe, but the trader is not unhappy about that because elves rarely want axes except near the jungles, and he doesn't like to be that close (nor even this close) to the orc homelands. He's been attacked before.
He has no books, no pigments, no paper, no inks, and no smaller tools, but he says he'll remember that you wanted them for when he comes through next year.
--M. J. Young
I thank him. Yet in my thoughts it goes a bit like "... next year? Oi!"
I was thinking about things not electric, but mechanic. Like the camera and pens etc, but not the memory stick or flashlight.
Then I'll continue with my schedule but include reading the Divina Comedia to my evening activities. (One night I will be doing the drawing, the other night I might be reading, some nights I might combine. I'm not very good in forcing a schedule on myself.)
I'll first see if Qormlach wants to be baptized and understands that God is also his God. But the baptism might help with that. I'm waiting till the next day before even bringing it up. I want to see if God will reveal Himself as a personal God to Qormlach this night. (as I will pray for that this evening)
I'm sorry--I'm having trouble understanding what it is you intend to do with the camera and other "mechanical" devices. Were you thinking of trading them for other things, or did you have something else in mind?
Also, we still have up in the air the nature of the rings and necklaces you acquired. You indicated that you were acquiring "gold and silver" jewelry, and now said something about keeping any which were gold. If you're planning to trade away some of your jewelry, I'd like a better picture of what you were getting.
Qormlach is having trouble understanding how a god of humans can also be a god of orcs. Gaia, in his understanding, is a god of humans, elves, and dwarfs, but not of orcs; but there are some men who say that Gaia is a god of orcs and some who say not, and some orcs who say one and some the other as well. But maybe the Creator God who is with you is like that, a God of both men and orcs. In any case, he certainly wants that to be his God.
I don't know that you've explained to him what Baptism is or does. (You also haven't said where you're going to perform the baptism.)
--M. J. Young
I was planning them as backup to trade for things that where in my interests. But there aren't any, so I'm not trading anything. I probably took them there.
The same with the jewelery, but only the non-gold jewelery. Since I needed gold for my plan. Which is now still far from completion. I'll keep my eye out for cloth merchants and wood merchants in the next weeks, months.
I ensure that God is the god of all and created everything, and that thus He is God of all, and also of him. "He even wants to be your Father."
I'm only baptizing him after I explained it to him, which is when he accepts God as a personal God. (or is open, like now) so now I'll explain baptism as simple as possible. I'll use the wordless book again for it, specifically the black, red and white pages. I'll also make it practical, making him repent of his sins and in prayer bringing them to the Lord and receive forgiveness. If he did something wrong to someone here and available. I'll suggest him to go and make it up with that guy, no matter how long it has been ago.
Then if he wants I'll baptize him in the only place that was indicated possible and legal. It would be in the morning or in the evening, possibly on the eighth day of the week, as it's a resting day here.
I'll also pray extensively for protection and openness of harts for the people who will be witnessing the baptism.
Qormlach chooses to be baptized. He tells a few orcs, and his father comes, but stands some distance away. A few of the working men notice you and look on in curiosity, but don't stay long.
The baptism is uneventful to outside appearances, but it clearly has meaning to Qormlach.
--M. J. Young
cool.
Proceed with activities:
My days from now on are like this.
From waking:1. Right out of bed I grab the bible and do my devotions and prayers for one to two hours.
These include intercession for Qormlach and a request for guidance and protection and a blessed day. I will probably read up to (not always) three chapters of the bible book I'm in every day. The prayer and reading isn't very structured and might mingle and mix.2. Then it's breakfast and coffee.
3. Off to the workshop to work and learn from Master Robert. I'll keep up joking with Qormlach, and if master Robert can appreciate jokes, I'll include him in the fun. Yet he is higher then me, and if I haven't any sign that he lets me get close, I won't push it.
4. Discipleship Training for Qormlach.
Sermon on the mount for now.
5. Dinner (social time)
6. Time for the Ukulele, or drawing, painting or other creative audiovisual expression. I might try a portrait of Qormlach when I think I'm ready for it. If my roommates at the barracks would want a portrait to send to their loved ones, I'll be happy to try and capture them on paper. I might start to read the divine comedy, but would be laying it aside rather quick at this time. My mind is occupied with doctrines enough these days that filtering out bad from good doctrine in this book is not something I want to do to relax ...
7. Intercessory prayer and prayer for protection for the night. 30 minutes - 1 hour.
I edited the above quote for point 4 and 6
I'm also collecting 30 stones of equal size and paint half of them (15) white, and the other half black. Unless I find an abundance of stones in two different colors. Then I'll introduce some of the men in the barracks to checkers, if they don't know it yet. If I've seen them playing it, I will not make my own set.
I had also posted this, but it was probably an automatic success, so wasn't mentioned. I am curious though whether or not I found a friend this way, through the game. A talking buddy, so to say.
I'm a bit confused on one point with the checkers: how do you crown kings of your checkers are stones? Or do you have different rules? (Come to think, checkers as I've seen it uses twelve of each color; what's the point of having fifteen?)
The checkered boards on which the men play Fox and Geese are not standardized--they range from a five by five board to a twelve by twelve board, but not all versions are represented. Were you borrowing someone's board, or making your own from something?
--M. J. Young
I was planning to draw the board in the sand or draw it on a stone surface with chalk. I was planning to go for flat stones, so you could stack so to get your ... queen (as the Belgian version calls it). As far as I can remember a checkers board is 10 on 10 squares, of which three rows of board pieces are set, leaving one square open so as to play on only one color. But I could be mistaking.
According to Wikipedia, I'm mistaken (or mistaking?) on several parts. The game is called 'Draughts' and there are twenty pieces because of four rows instead of three. Which I would have noticed as I would be setting it up.
But as they are already playing a game called "Fox and Geese" (of which I actually already have heard!) I am interested in learning that game and making friends along the way.
link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draughts
Interesting. American Checkers are universally played on an 8x8 board. This may be because in many cases the checkers are included in chess sets, and the single board is used for both games--usually colored black and red like the checkers but made 8x8 for the chess pieces (which are still usually colored black and white, but they do make black and red sets). I've never seen a board larger than 8x8, although I have seen a 5x5 and a 6x6 board used for other games. Of course, on the 8x8 board there are three rows of four checkers, two open rows in the middle. To have two open rows on a 10x10 board you would obviously need four rows of five.
"Draughts" is a British version, I think. I've never seen it played in America, but it appears to have much the same rules on the larger board.
It has been literally decades since I played Fox and Geese, so I make no guarantees that this is all correct.
Fox and Geese is one of those rare and unusual games in which the two players have distinct starting positions, movement options, and objectives. The fox has a single playing piece; the geese are numerous, their numbers in part dependent on the size of the board used. The fox can jump a goose if it is adjacent to him and there is an open space beyond it; in doing so, he captures that piece and removes it from the board. His objective is so to capture all the geese on the board. He can make multiple jumps, as in checkers, by moving from open space to open space leaping across geese, and may move in any diagonal direction. The geese may also jump each other to get into position; geese jumped by geese are not removed, and geese may not jump over the fox. For the geese to win, they must entrap the fox such that he cannot move. This obviously is accomplished by surrounding the fox with 1) edges of the board, 2) one goose between the fox and the edge of the board, and 3) lines of geese two deep. The fox thus wants to stay in the open and away from massed geese while picking off the outer edges, while the geese need to mass and move in blocks to pin the fox either against the wall or within the mass.
The ranch hands always welcome a newcomer to the table. They're surprised that you don't know how to play Fox and Geese, but some of them also take to your version of checkers. Boards etched in sand have the tendency to get blurred during play, but chaulk on a flat rock works reasonably well. You start to make inroads into their conversations.
--M. J. Young
Cool, new friends!
During the next days, I'll keep this routine and will try to steer some conversations (rather after or out of game then in game) towards more serious topics on occasion, provoking thought and seeing who is interested in having their perceptions challenged. Who is open for discussion.
Knowing how brash I can be it will be somewhere between two days or a week that that might come up. It might be on God or it might be on slavery. Either way, I'll probably get into such a discussion by the excuse of cultural differences and my questions about the differences.
-- Second post
I'd probably already have a Knowledge [K-Ranch Human Culture] skill at a 1@1 or 2@1, right?
And maybe an equivalent for the enslaved orcs? I'm always interested in culture. My chats in the barracks might go on those topics of art (visual or audible) and poetry etc too. I always like to know enough to identify a culture by looking at stuff like buildings and plates and drawings etc.
-- third post (... sorry)
As I get to know the game of fox and geese, I will try to use it as a tool to tell the Gospel somehow. If possible. And not like a big preacher, but more on an individual after-talk way, or even a short notice at the game table, when I start to get to know them. Again, starting from the perspective of "Where I come from..."
The men in the barracks aren't all that interested in culture. They are interested in being good at their jobs. They are more than nominally religious, but not theologically minded, accepting that there are professionals who understand these things and they simply believe what they are taught. There is some art--sculpture, painting, woven images, engraving--but most of it is in villages, and even then most of it is in churches, some of it in town meeting halls where these are different. A lot of it is dwarf work, as they do most of the sculpture and metal and glass work, but there have been some human efforts in woodcarving, leather, weaving, painting. Elves export no artwork, and it is said that they have none, because they do not believe that any fixed image can truly capture the beauties Gaia creates in the world around them. Music is extremely simple, single-line melodies with little complexity.
As to the orcs, you have a very few of the beligerent orcs that were part of the jungle culture who are regularly disciplined in an effort to "free" them from the wickedness of that life, and the majority who are born in captivity who know nothing but what they have been taught by their owners.
Your conversations about slavery follow much the same lines as the one you previously had: orcs are uncivlized and sub-human, and need to be domesticated to raise them above the primitive sinful world from which they come, but they will never be equal to the free peoples because they are really just very intelligent animals that can be trained. Making slaves of them is a good thing, just like domesticating sheep and cattle is good, because they lead much better lives in captivity than they would in the wild.
--M. J. Young