You seem to carry the booklet with you most of the time; I have no problem with you producing it at need.
Robert does not seem to get it, and he seems reluctant to give up the beliefs of his childhood. It is difficult to explain all this over dinner, though, and you've gotten quite a bit of attention from the others, several of whom want to hear more about this--not over dinner, but sometime this week. They want to arrange for you to explain your religion to all of them, like some sort of lecture or meeting.
--M. J. Young
I tell master Robert that it's okay. "I do not want to force anything on you.", I explain. As for the rest, I arrange a day and a place to speak. I look for the guard/herdsman who accompanied me throughout the pigment-hunt to see if he's among the interested. That would give me a testimony opportunity, should he want to testify.
Then I return to my now cold grub and eat it with a quick and satisfied thanksgiving. That evening in the barracks my prayer is long with thanksgiving and pleading for wisdom and inspiration.
Before the meeting on the meeting's day I pray for guidance and that the holy spirit may touch their harts. I want to take at least 20 minutes to half an hour for that.
At the meeting later on, I make sure (some day or days before) that I have some (5) pieces of cloth conveniently colored in the right colors which can then be hung between two trees or house beams or whatever there is where you can hang a rope to make the cloths hang from. Then I retell the gospel using this system, to refresh memory and to inform newcomers.
Then I ask if there are questions.
In a dream that night, you see the glorious risen Lord, but also the nail scars in His hands and feet, the gash in His side, the thorn scratches on His brow, the torn flesh of His back. He says, "You must tell them that it really happened, all of it, even though it was somewhere else."
You arrange for the dining hall for your meeting; the benches are adjacent to the tables, and since it is common for the men to have evening snacks and beer those are available on the sideboard and most of your audience avails themselves of these amenities. They do settle down to listen, though, as you recall the color-based gospel using colored blankets you've scrounged. The white one is a bit gray, as bleaching is not that good here, but you convey the notion that it's supposed to be white.
Orcs are not permitted in the human's dining hall. None attend.
I need to nail down this guidance skill; I thought you had this, but your skills are all similar to but distinct from it.
You are requesting two things, the one "guidance" which I take to mean "that I would know what to say and do during the meeting"; the other "that the holy spirit may touch their hearts" which I take to mean that they would be made receptive to the message by the presence of God the Spirit in their midst assuring them that this is the truth.
You are praying for "at least 20 minutes to half an hour", and I'm wondering whether to round up or down, as that's a significant difference in time (the second number is 50% more than the first). I'm also asking whether this prayer involves kneeling, speaking aloud, folding or raising hands, and whether there are other specifics that I should mark as consistent, such as reciting specific passages of scripture (e.g., you might pray, "Lord, you said 'Ask and you will receive'," but the question is whether you would always include that in such a prayer for guidance; you probably also have a "formulaic" conclusion, such as "in Jesus' name", that you use at the ends of your prayers (most people do), and that would have some meaning here).
In short, I am attempting to get a clear picture of what is included in this prayer, so I can assess under game mechanics (the only tool I can use fairly for it) what results you get.
--M. J. Young
It once again proves that no system, however good it is, can substitute or even correctly emulate the true working of the Spirit or the spiritual life. But let's go for this.
Guidance
That I would know what to say or do during the meeting, including, but not neccecarily via words of Knowledge, be they conscious or unconscious. With Word of Knowledge I mean that God gives insight into specific knowledge that was otherwise not known, like a personal history of someone or a certain motivation. It can happen that you 'get' and understand a word of knowledge, or that you are speaking, and in the mean time, while you don't know it, it reveals a truth about someone. John Piper has a sermon this on his website. But it's somewhere between half an hour and an hour long.
touching the heart
They would be made receptive, and God's thruth will work in them, rather then my fumbling words, however well or faulty spoken. It can be that it's a personal revelation, which it might be most of the time.
the prayer
Let's take 30 minutes then, but I don't really mind the clock while praying.
I might quote scripture, but not at every occasion. I will probably be kneeling. I do that most of the time. My eyes would be closed. I end most prayes with "Thank you Lord" or "Thank you Jesus" and then "Amen".
After the dream I'm sure to stress Christ's suffering and that it really happened, but in another place. Yet that His power is so great that it spans all places and all times.
I also include that it goes for everyone. Everyone is guilty, everyone needs repentance and the Sacrifice of Christ to be able to have eternal life, with His new and ressurected life.
That deserves some consideration, which I will address in a new thread, Christian Prayer Theology and Game Mechanics.It once again proves that no system, however good it is, can substitute or even correctly emulate the true working of the Spirit or the spiritual life. But let's go for this.
You pray in preparation for the meeting, and you deliver the message as you've conceived it. You feel no special presence, no special power, just a dependence on the natural gifts God gave you.
As you finish, you find all thirty-five of the men and women who attended--more than half the farm staff--are favorably impressed by the message and wanting to become Christian as you've described it. You lead them in prayer, and begin to answer their eager questions.
--M. J. Young
This is great!
I pray a quick prayer for guidance (a nehemiah-prayer, as I reffer myself to it often, referring in turn to the quick prayer he did before adressing the king and asking to go to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple.), let's say 2 seconds. Smiling and being open for spiritual guidance, I come to the new believers.
I try to answer the questions and will try to arrange 35 wordless books. Maybe one of the new believers will be motivated to help making them. It does not have to be in bookform. It can be a bracelett with 5 coloured beads too.
If possible I will try to pray for each person personally. It will be a prayer that God may fill their harts and lives. That they might be made ready for this new, white life.
I tell them that to confirm this decision, they should be baptized. But that I will speak about that on the next time we'll gather. I then try to arrange another evening to gather. Preferrably the next evening.
The next night won't work; in fact, most of the men are going to be out for at least a week dealing with sheep on the range--there's a sheep drive taking a batch to be sold for meat before the winter settles in. That also means that the books or beads or whatever you're going to use will probably fall on you and maybe one of the women who works with weaving.
They are eager, though, and want to have another meeting as soon as they return from the drive.
--M. J. Young
It will be arranged for next week then. And I will give one of them my booklet, so as they can remember the thing by themselves throughout the week.
It will give me more time to prepare. Next to translating Galatians and commenting on it, I will now try to make the booklets and see if I can find a day to have a next evening of speaking. I will also work on my talk about baptism, doing some study about it and pray about it so as to say the right things.
In the intervening week, Bredd has some questions about what was happening at the meeting. He says some of the orcs are talking about it, and want to know what it means.
--M. J. Young
I am relieved to see that he asks questions freely. That means that, despite being in slavery, he has quite a good devellopement in his self-image as he sees that it is good and possible to ask questions and that he should not be ashamed of it. I ask him if he can stay a little longer after work so I can tell him, but for now, we need to do our job. I wink at him in good nature. "I can tell you that it is about the most important thing in the world. Seriously!" With the 'seriously', my face is all seriousness too. Not a hint of joking about.
<b>Later on:</b>
I call for Brent when it's time to quit and smile at him as I take some pigments and other colored objects nearby so as to quickly improvise the wordless book. I set them on the table in the right order, and keep in mind his age (which I as player, being on this side of a screen, almost forgot) as I ask him what colours he sees.
If I've already finished a wordless book at this point in the week I take it out and start leafing through it with Him. "You know what the Yellow reminds me of?", I ask him, and start of with telling him the gospel, child-sized but not leaving out or censuring the cross or the blood.
I tell him that there might be some orcs who already know about this, "... but I think most have been sold by now."
As you note, Bredd is younger than your previous orc assistant; he cannot stay as long without getting in trouble, unless you make a point of telling the slave keeper that you kept him for something.
He listens to your instruction, and understands it. He asks why the humans have not told him this before, and why his parents do not know it.
--M. J. Young
I tell him that this is because they didn't know about it either. He's a bright young kid! "I think that this is why I am in this place. To tell people about it."
The fact that he understands it but has no real emotional reaction other then surprise or maybe even dissapointment that he hasn't been told before bothers me a bit.
"When you go home tonight, think about this.", I tell him. "What does this mean for Bredd?"
He might be a bit too young, but on the other side he has surprized me before in his devellopement. He's bright and seems to get stuff. But maybe his emotions are locked as a safeguard to slavery, possible broken family through slavery etc.
I will keep him in my prayers tonight. (Let's say 40 minutes max, unless the spirit leads me onwards through revelation for things to pray for) The objective: That God comes into his life (revelation) and changes him to His image. That there would be repentance, conversion, purification/sanctification and the filling with the Spirit, so that he would be able to grow, as he has seen the light of God. This will be a walking prayer. I will walk to the barracks with a detour. In my walking prayers I will also often fall back to praying in tongues. Hence the timespan of 40 minutes, as I would add for about 15 minutes of praying in tongues. No preset words at all, yet I want to appeal on God's love, plead that He will reveal himself to the boy He loves ...)
You have some internal assurance that your prayers have been heard.
The next day, Bredd is at the shop when you arrive. "I think Jesus spoke to me last night," he says. "Anyway, I want to be a Christian. I want to be baptized."
--M. J. Young
I'm having a bit trouble interpreting this. You tell me what he says, but not how he says it. Does he tell this smiling or thoughtfull or troubled or ...
I'm glad for the words I hear from Bredd, and the fact that he speaks to me directly as I enter the workshop makes me smile. It must have made an impact on him. "That's great!" I tell him as I put my jacket away and put on my working apron. I look into his eyes, smiling a smile of happiness. "I'm really glad! I asked Him to let you know in some way that He was real and wants to be your Friend and Father.", I tell him while laying my hand on his shoulder.
I take out some pigments and arrange them on the workbench. "Right now I could be telling you a lot, but that would take time that Master Robert is expecting us to do some work. How about we talk about it during lunch breack?" I tell him.
"I'm really gladd! Praise God! Hahah! This is great!" I take out needle, thread, cutting gears, and spread them out on the table in what has come my routine.
I see or enquire with master Robert as to what needs to be made and see what I can do with that.
Master Robert's interests at the moment are that you develop the various leather staining techniques and produce some colored products that can be given to the men as compensation for their work or sold at the market in the future. If you want to work together with him on something, such as a coat or saddle or handbag that uses colored leather in places, he's more than willing to do so, although he points out that you need more practice particularly at coloring (and also at leather working) to become truly professional at it.
For what it's worth, my intent was that Bredd was thoughtful, introspective perhaps; at the same time, he's an orc, and you're effectively an alien, so it is not completely certain that you would always understand his feelings from his demeanor. In this case, though, you're pretty sure he's reflective, uncertain quite what to make of what happened.
Bredd is encouraged by your response, and sets to helping as he is able.
--M. J. Young
I continiou in practicing as he tells me, working the colours and seeing if I can improve my cutting and stitching and other things related. (such as, I guess, hardening the leather etc.)
I will want to work on something toghether with his soon though, to look at the master while he works and assist where needed.
During the colouring I reflect on how I used to do this to photo's, on a computer. I nearly forgot about that. It is strange. I smile.
At lunch I sit with Bredd. "So Bredd. Jesus spoke with you last night, you told me. Wow. Amazing." I look at him. "So, what did He tell you?"
ooc: Behind the screens you posted this:
Nikolaj rolls a 16 on a simple intuition check to pick up Bredd's feelings on this. That is within his intuition, so he's good to go.
I must say that I'm alsmost constantly in a state of observing. Should I always say that I'm observing? It happens quite subconscious with me. It's automatic. Sometimes I will make more effort. If reading an orc face is hard, I would've been 'practicing' this since the start of my arriving, since it would frustrate me quite a bit.
With orcs that were closer to me, such as Qormlach, I would have frequently asked how he was feeling, so as to get to grips with this.
You are gradually improving with practice at the leather craft skills generally. Your training has added skills in tanning leather and furs, making repairs and restoration to leather, and creating suede, which is interesting because it enables you to work with texture and color simultaneously, and the colors have a different depth and warmth when they are used on suede, and different again when the leather on which they have been used is made into suede.
We'll kick your intuition up a notch to 1@9. That will mean more successful rolls, and will reflect your level of observation better.
"Well, there was a human, but he was beautiful anyway, and he said that he was Jesus, the Jesus that you told me about, and that you had asked him to show himself to me. And he said that if I believed that he could save me from death, I should be baptized. It was like a dream, but it was so much more real than a dream."
--M. J. Young
I look to Bredd. "This is great!" I tell him. "There are some other people that want to get baptized and I'm going to speak to them soon about that. You can come too. Then we will have a baptism soon!"
"Other orcs?"
--M. J. Young
I'm assuming Bredd said this.
"No, not orcs, humans. But I'm staging the thing, so I decide who can come.", I tell him, quite aware of the controverse of the idea. I'm slightly nervous about it myself.
Bredd appears very impressed that you expect to baptize both orcs and humans at the same ceremony. He does not question you on this.
"So, what do I have to do before I can be baptized?"
--M. J. Young
"Good that you ask!" I tell Bredd. I open the wordless book again and start to digg in my memory. I don't want to miss a spot. I know it, but I don't want to let something out because I'm on a roll with talking.
"Basically speaking, it's a symbolic act. Technically, it might be a bit more, but it's an outward sign of an inward change. That's how we liked to call it where I come from." I wanted to say in church, but I changed my wordings at the last minute.
"It's a bit of a difficult idea, but do you get it?", I ask him. I know plenty adults who don't get it. But that might be bcause they are not child enough. I don't know.
"Let's see, how can I make this clear in an example." I rub my chin while thinking. "Boy, this is good preparation for the baptism preparation meeting! Now, something that changed within and is visible outside. Can the butterfly example work? ... I'm not sure." I think some more. "Ah! I've got it!"
"You know how, when you are happy, you could sing all day? And when you are sad, you only look to the ground? This way people can see something about how you feel. They see something about something that is not visible. Right? Are you following me?"
"So far so good.", I think as I shuffle on my seat, trying to find a new position. I tend to do that when I'm pretty excited or trying to explain something.
"Like this, the baptism is something that shows something that has happened to you or is happening in you.
"You remember the black page, right?", I tell him. "What does it stand for?"
After his answer, I congratulate him. "Bad things! Correct! But even a bit more. Everyone is bad from birth on. It's like we are all black and dark inside. Remeber when I told you? Could we come to God like this?"
Again he answers. "Correct, good! No we can't. He is light, we are dark, however He wants us to be light. It was His plan from the start that we could be with Him. It was not possible anymore, but He still had a plan!
"He sent His Son, a piece of Himself, to earth and He died in our place, so that we can be free. A famous writer who wrot the words of God down where I came from said that now with Him we can die and in Him we can rise in a new life.
"He did it for us, so we don't have to anymore, but we need to be aware that we should have done it and need to follow him. We need to know our sins, our bad things and tell them to Him and tell Him how sorry we feel for doing them. Then He will have died for them. Then if we want to follow Him, He will give us a new life. He said that He will send His Spirit to live in us, His new Life in us. Can you get that?
"Okay, baptism is a bit like the singing when you are happy. You do it so that others can see what has happened to you. You get plunged into the water as if the water is your grave and you would die, and then you get up from the water as if you have come back to life, but your sin is left in the water, in the grave where Jesus has lain until He rose back to life."
I smile. "Do you get that?"
If he gets it I'll ask what his next step should be. And that would be repentance of sin. I will guide him in it, and if there were sins for which he can go and ask forgiveness, I will encourage him to do so.
I'm afraid Bredd isn't getting it. He is unclear about whether orcs or humans are bad. He is also confused about the idea that baptism is about being buried. He wants to be baptized, because that's what he was told; but being buried doesn't mean anything to him. Why do you bury someone?
--M. J. Young
Hahah! Yeah, well, no burying then.
"Orcs and Humans alike are evil to start with. Just think about it. Do you know any orc that has not done sin? Besides that, because of the rebellion of the first people created, everybody has a curse on them called the inherital sin. It's a bit complicated, but it means that everybody has sin to start with, unless they come to Christ.
"Where I come from we bury our dead", I explain, "I don't know what you do with people or orcs that have died. Do you burn them or put them in a cave or ...? But that's what I meant, the going down into the water is actually symbolic for dieing. (probably not spelled right) and coming back out of it is symbolic for coming back to life."
"Oh, I see. So becoming a Christian is like dying and coming back to life, so that you are a new person. Going under the water is like dying, like drowning maybe, and then coming out is like being rescued, having life back."
--M. J. Young
I smile and point at him. "Yes! That's it. And the new life in you is the Spirit of God."
"Alright, time for step two", I think.
"Okay Bredd, so where are you now? Have you 'died' already or not?", I try to pronounce the quotes around died. "Did you tell your sins to Christ? That will be what's needed first. The thing needs to happen for real first, before we do the going under in the water."
I try to sit with him and encourage him to think about all the things that he did bad. Then I would guide him to pray about that, teaching him to pray along the way as I figure that he probably hasn't prayed before.
After that I would ask him if there are things that he needs to go make right with others. I encourage him to do so.
Bredd's sins are not particularly major, but he does confess several of the sort of things a child in his circumstances might--bad attitude toward certain people, particularly some of the humans who have mistreated orcs; taking food that was not offered; lying about where he was or what he was doing. To the bad attitude, he does not think the people involved would know or care what he felt or thought about them. For the others, orcs do this all the time but are punished if caught, so he is not certain to whom he would have to speak to put things right, or even if that makes a lot of sense.
--M. J. Young
"Well, let's first set them straight with Christ. We will see the rest, maybe God will show you what to do in a dream again.", I tell him. Then we confess sins to Christ.
This will be it for the day. My usual translating and praying stays the same and I take another prayerwalk to the barracks to ask God to speak to Bredd again in his dream, this time about whether he should confess his sins to the people or not. It's hard, but sometimes that's what it takes. I've read a lot of stories about people going to stores, confessing a thefth they committed, among other things. I've went to people, confessing secret sins myself. I know how hard it is. But I'm not sure you should do this with every sin. So I ask God that He will show Bredd what to do. (same time as last prayerwalk)
Bredd reports having had another dream, and from it he determined that he should talk to his father about some of what he did, but that was the only person he felt he should see. He's working up the nerve to do it.
--M. J. Young
"Ah yes, fathers are important persons. If you want I will pray with you, to ask God to give you the nerve to comfront your father. Perhaps this act, in a way like dying to yourself, will bring new life, and such a new life that your father sees it and will be curious as to how to get it!."
If he agrees I will pray with him. Sitting besides him with a hand on his shoulder (more around his shoulder, but with the intention of a laying on of hands) and pray with him. I estimate the combined time of prayer for the two of us to be somewhere around 20-30 minutes. Depending on how long Bredd would pray.
I am reading this as a prayer for courage for Bredd; is that correct? Is the prayer concerned at all with the result, or merely with Bredd's ability to speak to his father?
--M. J. Young
I am reading this as a prayer for courage for Bredd; is that correct? Is the prayer concerned at all with the result, or merely with Bredd's ability to speak to his father?
With the ability to speak to his father.
You pray together for twenty minutes and see the courage filling him.
He leaves work encouraged and ready to speak.
You meanwhile attend dinner with the humans. It is a quieter meal than most, as many of the men are in the field and some of the women are worried about them.
--M. J. Young
I notice the unrest about the men that are away in the fields. If any of the people there are people who have attended 'the meeting' I will suggest to them that we pray to my God for protection and a safe homecoming.
If they agree I will explain them about praying briefly. It's talking to God. "Generally when you are in a group we pray out loud, one after another. Sometimes they set an order of speaking, but I like the spontanious approach. We wait for one to speak, then when he or she is ready, another one starts, does not matter who. I will start and end the prayer."
When the others are praying I close my eyes and set myself open for God. Sometimes during such prayers, God shows me something about what we are praying for.
ooc: I was wondering where the wild orcs were. It has been a while since the raid that was only me entering this world.
The wild orcs live in the jungle. Generally the humans encounter them only along the edges, but it happens that this ranch is on the edge of the jungle. Clearing jungle profits the ranch in three ways: it increases grazing area once the grass spreads into the cleared area, it provides lumber for building, and it provides timber for sale. However, the dangers from the wild orcs keep the harvesting of trees limited.
I'll admit that Multiverser has a bit of trouble working with group prayer--it's not impossible, but it requires that I pay attention to detail, as most prayers are perceived as prayers of individuals. Thus I'd like to start by asking you which of these three best describes the circumstance:
- Nikolaj is praying, and the presence and participation of others is a required element in his prayer.
- Everyone is praying together, and their prayers are combined as a single prayer.
- Each is praying individually, as Nikolaj teaches them to pray and guides them in how to do this.
--M. J. Young
It would be number 2: "Everyone is praying together, and their prayers are combined as a single prayer."
Sorry if I make it hard for you. I'm just trying to do things as I would do it should I be there.
You're not making it hard for me; you're explaining what your expectations in this are, so I can handle it as accurately as possible.
You pray, confident that God hears you; many of those present also pray. You do not get a vision this time. People do thank you.
--M. J. Young
I try to be confident in God, and as I walk towards the baracks I make another prayerwalk, praying that Bredd's father would be receptive of the apologies/confessions of his son. I argue to God that it could be a point where the father might be confronted or astonished enough by the unusuality of this that he might ask why, and the Gospel could be presented to him. I tell God that I hope that Bredd's father might come to know God.
In a sense this is again a 'Pray for Third Party Revelation', but with Bredd as a medium (besides the evident role of the Holy Spirit).
I try to focus on the bible translation that evening. Not sure that I would be able as I'm pretty distracted with all the insecurities hanging in the air.
The next morning I am curious about Bredd's adventure of confession. My plans hinge on it for a radical meeting with the soon to be baptized humans in the 'baptism theory meeting'.
You don't have to wait until the next morning. You are interrupted in your studies by one of the men who says there are two orcs outside wanting to see you. They turn out to be Bredd and his father, and his father wants to know what this religion is that has so impacted his son.
--M. J. Young
I don't have much time to type out and roleplay here, so it will be a dull answer
I smile as I see them. (what is the expression of the father?) As the father asks about this religion I ask him what Bredd has told about it yet.
Further on I'll let him explain it and fill in where needed. I'll make sure that the fact that Christ did for us, for our sins is in there, and that Bredd wants to dedicate his life to God, and confess his sins to Him, and those who are needed. It is a form of dying to self. He wants to stop living for himself and instead live for Christ.