That's a pretty good explanation which every Baptist would approve--and hey, the Baptists got their start in Belgium, even though they were English refugees.
"So," one of the men says, "how do we do this, this baptism thing?"
--M. J. Young
Was that with William Tyndale? I didn't know it started here. Right now the non-Catholic Christian believers in Belgium only add up to 1% of the population (or so I've heard)
I try to remember how it was when I got baptized.
"Because you are letting the world know that you want to follow Christ and live a holy life, usually friends and family will be invited to come and see this declaration you make, this decision. Then, where I come from, people would in short share why they want to be baptized, how they've come to that decision. After that a person in christian authority, which in this case I guess would be me, dunks you in the water. Seeing that we might be with a bunch of people, I suggest we'd do it at a lake or river, or maybe a pound or brook. I don't think I saw a sea here somewhere.
"Also, because you would be second only to Qormlach in being baptized, we'd better have a little meeting first, explaining all this again to those who don't know it. Then the sharing and then the submerging in water. After that it would be good to have a bit of celebration. Food, drink and maybe music.
"But before all that everyone who wants to get baptized should search his heart in the time going up to that meeting, and ask God for forgiveness. If you've wronged a fellow men or orc in any way, it would be right to set things right.
"Now, who wants to get baptized?"
Actually, I was researching this just recently. A John Smyth of England (rather a common English name, in various forms) was an Anglican priest who joined the Puritans, who were a subgroup of Anglicans who believed that the Church of England had not been sufficiently reformed--mostly, that it was still too much like the Roman Catholic Church. These were dedicated to personal holiness; most stayed in the Anglican congregations, but a Separatist movement began which was highly Congregational in polity, asserting independence from the Church of England, and being persecuted for it. Smyth took his congregation to Holland, I think, among whom was Thomas Helwys. Smyth and his congregation rejected infant baptism in favor of believers immersion (then practiced by the Mennonites since before Luther), but they had no one to baptize them, so Smyth baptized himself and then baptized the rest of the congregation. They returned eventually to England. Smyth grew closer to the Mennonites in his beliefs, and after his death his congregation joined the Mennonites; but Helwys continued to defend Smyth's combination of Arminianism, Believer's Baptism, and a rejection of Sacramentalism and disdain for liturgy, and added to it the doctrine of the independence of the church from the state, that no man could be either mediator or judge between God and man, and thus the king had no say in a man's personal religion. Helwys was consistent in this, strongly defending the rights of others with whom he disagreed to believe what they believed. King James (who authorized the King James Version) had Helwys jailed in Newgate Prison, where he eventually died, but Roger Williams took the concepts of the Baptist faith to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, where he was rejected by Puritan Separatists who thought that everyone should be required to be part of their church, and so moved south to establish the Colony of Rhode Island, which as far as anyone knows is the first place where all religions were treated equally.
More than you wanted to know, I'm sure.
When you ask who wants to be baptized, something between a third and a half of the roughly thirty people present wave hands in some way that suggests they're candidates. Neither Bredd's mother nor Kathrine Kucher is among them.
--M. J. Young
We'll plan a baptism day a week from now and I'll try and meet up with all of them in the coming week for a bit of personal guidance/pastoral care. I'll note their names on a list.
Oh, also: I smile. I'm happy! I give a prayer of thanksgiving. (out loud) In it I thank and praise God for touching the hearts of these people, I thank the people for responding to His call and I ask God to protect them in their spiritual life during the coming week.
(Bless(protect) specific group, loudly spoken, eyes closed, hands held high in turn to the sky and to the people)
Then, with personal contact and talks, the meeting ends. I congratulate Bredd for coming and explaining and I go over to his parents and Miss Kucher to thank them for coming. "It means much for me, and I do believe it means much for Bredd as well."
Let me again clarify that Bredd's father was not permitted to come, so only his mother is there.
Miss Kucher responds. "You've got some very unusual ideas in this belief of yours. I'm a bit confused, though. Where does Gaia fit into all this? Is she not our mother, source of all that is on the earth?"
--M. J. Young
I realized that after posting.
I smile to miss Kucher. "As far as I understand Gaia is a spiritual being who is a servant of this God. She could, I think, in a way have helped in creating this earth, but my God has created the universe. And He wants that people only worship Him."
I smile again. "In a vision or a dream I saw Gaia before my God. He sais that the people had to be following Him now. It was time for her to become smaller so He could become bigger."
I'm assuming that your comment about what you understand concerning Gaia is simply your own thoughts, not a statement, because you did not put it in quotes and you did put the other in quotes. If you meant both as statements, correct me. If you wanted me to confirm your understanding, God created Gaia and gave Gaia the authority to create this world and its people with a view toward ultimately bringing more people to Himself, so Gaia did create this particular universe in something of the same sense that you created that leather jacket, as something of a derivative work based on the skills and materials God gave her.
I personally don't have a problem with that notion of the creation of some particular other universe in the multiverse, particularly as it's all fiction anyway; but it's not that important to the concept if it bothers you, and we can settle it that she was involved in forming this earth in a more limited sense. However, just for information, I think the earth is flat and the stars are angelic beings looking down about the creatures of the world. You're not in Kansas anymore.
She wrinkles her nose (which is really rather cute), and says, "That's not very like what they taught us in gatherings. I thought Gaia made the Earth and gave everything on it. You seem to be saying that Gaia works for someone else."
--M. J. Young
I had meant to say everything. I have edited the above post accordingly.
I will await possible implications before replying to KK.
She wrinkles her nose (which is really rather cute), and says, "That's not what they taught us in gatherings. You're saying that Gaia works for your God, like God made Gaia and instructed Gaia to make the Earth and all that is on it. It's like, when that kid asked who made Gaia and the leader said that's not a question anyone can answer, you're telling us you know the answer. How do you come by this unusual bit of knowledge?"
--M. J. Young
Hahah, a miss Kucher who looks cute when she wrinkles her nose. What are you scheming at? Perhaps a more detailed description of the miss would be in order so that I can imagine things better. Or do you leave that up to my discretion?
I cannot help but smile when she wrinkles her nose. I suddenly realize that she is indeed quite beautiful. Mostly so in the way she acts. I start back out of the dreamy look I must just have had and startle a bit.
"Um, yes, well. It's quite complicated to explain, at least now, while other people are also wanting to speak with me. Perhaps we could meet tomorrow and talk about it while there would be more time? I would be able to give you a more satisfying answer really, and you would have the time to ask questions in return without the probability of interruption. But I will tell you this ... it's all written in here too." I show her my bible. "The only unfortunate thing is that it is in my native tongue. But I started translating it. Perhaps later on, you would like to read it?"
I immediately regretted that last question. It was way too pushy, though I was not certain what I was pushing. Was I pushing a chance to meet her again, or a chance that she might meet God? And it was also too familiar. They were my employers after all!
I don't "scheme" anything, Nikolaj. I'll say more about that behind the screen, though, I think. I will, however, accommodate you with my image of her, such as it is.
Kathrine Kucher is of above average height for a girl, perhaps five foot seven inches (I'm afraid my shortcut conversions to metric are just inaccurate enough that I would not rely on them to give you the sense of her height in metric--after all, even an inch more or less would be significant when talking about the relative height of people). She is slender but well-muscled as might be expected of someone who grew up on a ranch, curvaceous but not overly so. Her hair and eyes are both a moderate brown, and her skin lighter than the men who work in the sun all day but somewhat tanned and paler around her cuffs and collar and behind her neck and under her hair where the sun is less likely to tan it. Untanned it would probably not be as dark as Mediterranean people but slightly darker than northern Europeans and Scandinavians. It is smooth and clean without scar or blemish that you can see, and her lips are moderate both in size and color. Her nose might be described as a "button nose", relatively small and turned up a bit at the end. Her jawline is gentle, not prominent, her forehead smooth but not high, her eyebrows somewhat light. Her neck is long but strong. Her height is well distributed--not all in her legs nor all in her torso, but comfortably present in both. She also radiates an air of confidence, as of someone who knows who she is and what her place is in life, who is comfortable with herself. She is probably twenty or twenty-one years old, looks a bit younger but acts a bit older.
She notices the crowd, and nods after a brief hesitation. "You're right," she says. "Tomorrow. Lunch. Come up to the main house whenever Robert gives you your break, and I'll have the kitchen staff serve us privately in the breakfast room so we can talk about this. If you really do have the answer to who made Gaia, I'd like to know about that."
She looks around at the others. "Well, I probably should get back myself. You'll see to it that [here she mentions a name which you realize must be Bredd's mother] returns to her quarters when she's finished here, I'm sure."
If you don't detain her, she will leave. Others will have questions, mostly ones you find fairly easy to answer, and a significant number are interested in the baptism.
--M. J. Young
I did not mean to offend you. It was a lighthearted remark. My apologies. It was no accusation in any way. (au contraire)
"Thank you miss. I will see you at lunch tomorrow.", I say smiling. "And I will escort Bredd's mother to her quarters myself", I assure her. "A good night to you, and may God bless it.", I say to her, meaning it. I part from her in the local custom, which, if it's not a handshake, I figure I'll have learned by now.
I turn to shake hands with someone and as the door closes behind miss Kucher I sigh inwardly and shake my head slightly to regain a better focus and concentration. There were questions to be answered! And I did. Afterward, after Bredd and I cleaned up, I wanted to escort Bredd's mother to her barracks, but thought of something. I asked Bredd to join me in thanksgiving for the night, if he wants. And we close our eyes, lift our hands up to the sky and praise God for this evening, which I think would take 10 minutes each, at minimum, probably more.
(I also think we would have settled on an exact date for the baptism, and/or a place.)
Then I escort Bredd's mother home and let Bredd join me (or more importantly, her).
(I'm not quite sure if Bredd sleeps at his mother's or his father's barracks or in a separate child-barracks. If Bredd sleeps somewhere else, I escort him as well.)
As I walk towards my own barracks, I pray for Katherine. (Prayer for third party revelation) I pray that God will reveal Himself to her in a way He pleases. Through my words tomorrow and/or through a dream this night or the next. That she might understand the answer to her question and that it may have lasting effect. That He may inspire me how best to approach this question.
It was evening, it was morning, the next day :)
I was not offended; I just did not want there to be any confusion in the matter. If I create a character you find attractive, and your character expresses that, I consider how the other character might respond and roll some dice, and play it accordingly; but I don't really create characters specifically to catch the eye of the player characters--I just keep creating different characters, and frequently one of them will. There are, after all, attractive women in the world of many types, and it would be rather unrealistic if you never met any of them.
I agree that you know the appropriate social conventions, and am not particularly worried (in this world) what they are, if you have any particular preferences.
Bredd is in the men's barracks, not really with his father; they eat together as a family among the orcs, in much the same way that some of the men and women do at meals among the humans. There are more orc children than human children here, though.
Baptism in three days at the eastern watering hole. It's a bit muddy but you can wade in easily, and the sheep are in the west pastures right now so it won't be overrun by animals.
You take your forty minute prayer walk focused on Kathrine Kucher, and feel very assured that God is answering your prayer.
--M. J. Young
cool. And you are right of course. I just thought it might be one of those cases as in the scenario with the princesses (which I've only read about on these forums.)
Okay, in the mornings I work on the saddle. Lunchtime with Katherine. I'm a bit nerveous about that. I quickly send up a prayer that I might keep focussed. (words, not spoken aloud. A kind of Nehemiah prayer again) I straighten my beard out a bit with my hands, wondering when it was the last time I trimmed it and immediately wonder why I'm wondering it. If for some reason I might now that it's custom to wear your best suit when meeting the Kuchers, then I will switch my clothes as well.
There are other things, but they will have to wait untill after this lunch meeting.
You have had dinner with the Kuchers before, and the workmen who joined did wash up but did not change before coming, so it would not be expected that you would take the time to change out of your work clothes other than removing your apron before joining Miss Kucher.
An orc girl probably older than Bredd but younger than Qormlach in simple black and white functional dress answers the door, and says "Miss is expecting you." She leads the way down a hall to a room with a rectangular table that might comfortably seat eight, which makes it considerably smaller than the one in the dining room where you had your first meals here. There are only two chairs, set across from each other near one end, and Kathrine is seated facing the door. She rises as you enter, and says, "Mr. Nikolaj, please have a seat." She is dressed in discrete but delicate clothing, recently groomed and washed, with a somewhat more nervous and shy look about her than she had previously.
There is sliced meat, lamb or mutton most likely, on a platter, along with a loaf of bread in thick slices, fresh butter, a bit of lettuce and sliced onion and chunked tomato, a light yellow hard cheese also with a few slices already cut.
"What would you like to drink? There is coffee, tea, or we can get some wine or beer from the cellar, and I believe there is some peach juice from breakfast."
The orc girl appears to be awaiting directions.
--M. J. Young
I smile at the girl as she waits for me (the servant that is). As she guides me to the dining room I follow her. As I enter and am being greeted by miss Kucher, I do my best to greet back well. "Thank you miss Kucher.", I say with a slight bow. I take my seat and smile. "It is an honor to be here. I hope I did not keep you waiting for too long?"
As the girl ask for drink I answer. "Oh, a coffe please, black, no sugar.", I answer her. "Thank you for asking." I smile.
"The food looks lovely."
"... and so does she."
"... stop thinking about that! That's not why we are here. Speaking of which ..."
"Miss Kucher, uhm, is there any chance that my God has, uhm, showed you some of the answer I will try to give to day already? You see, I asked Him and strongly felt that He obliged." I smile a bit unsure. "I can't believe I asked that! What if it were just some feelings and no truth? I would feel very stupid then!"
She bites her lower lip in a cute look of consternation. "Well--sort of? Not exactly?"
As you prompt her to continue, she does. "You had said last night that your God had made Gaia as His servant, so that she worked for Him. Now, we have people here who work for us--in fact, you work for us, don't you?"
She seems to think better of that as soon as she says it, but plows ahead.
"I thought, if anyone were to ask Mr. Nikolaj, or Mr. Robert, or any of our employees, they would answer that they worked for the Kuchers; why would it be different for Gaia? Of course, I don't know that I expected an answer. I've spoken to Gaia before, but I've never spoken with her. But I thought it wouldn't hurt to ask, maybe partly because I didn't really expect to get an answer. So I asked. I prayed to Gaia, and asked if she worked for someone else.
"Then--and I don't know if it was a dream, because it was late and it was dark; but it didn't really seem like a dream, if you see my meaning. Gaia appeared in my room. That was frightening; it was really terrifying, because--well, whatever, she said that I shouldn't be afraid, and that yes, she did work for someone. She said that she had been created by a greater God who created all the gods, and that He had allowed her the privilege of creating our world and our peoples, and of trying to bring us toward the truth. But, she said, that God had now sent someone into the world from another world, to introduce Himself to us so that we could know the great Creator God of all things.
"Then she was gone.
"Now, she didn't say that you were that person. But then, everyone is a bit vague about where you are really from, and no one has heard anything about this God of whom you speak so freely, and you had already said that your God was Gaia's creator, so it seems pretty likely that she meant you.
"And I guess, if she does work for your God, then yes, I'd have to say that your God has already shown me some of the answer, although He did it by sending word through my god. At least, I think that's what happened."
--M. J. Young
I smile as I hear that. I smile very much.
"Well yes", I tell her. "That's about how I would have wanted to explain it. I also had a dream on one of the first days I arrived here. I had never heard of Gaia before. Well, I had heard the name, but not as a goddess. So I asked God what to think of it, and he showed me Gaia before Himself, wondering why I needed to come, being a bit uncomfortable with me. Then He answered that she needed to get smaller so that He could become greater in this world."
Then I watch her reaction to this.
"So then, I guess Gaia is heading for retirement." She looks out the window across the pastures toward the jungle. "She's been taking care of this world for a long time. I guess she deserves a rest."
Drawing her eyes back to the room after a moment, she says, "So I guess then I have to find out how I become a--what do you call people of your religion again? Anyway, I have to do that. I also am going to have to talk to my father, and he's not going to be happy with any of this. Maybe I should talk to my mother first. I don't think I should mention it to Joe--my brother can be pretty upset about what he sees as 'other gods'. I don't guess we can blame him. Gaia has meant peace between humans, elves, and dwarfs for centuries. We don't all view her the same, but we all agree that she is the same. There will be people who don't want her to go, and they're not going to listen to us, I expect.
"But that doesn't change what has to be done. I guess this bap-thing you were saying is the next step?"
--M. J. Young
"So then, I guess Gaia is heading for retirement." She looks out the window across the pastures toward the jungle. "She's been taking care of this world for a long time. I guess she deserves a rest."
"Yes, I think so too, but it might still take some time.", I tell her. "The message and words of Christ need to be spread and take root first I suppose. People ... or persons need to know."
"So I guess then I have to find out how I become a--what do you call people of your religion again? Anyway, I have to do that. I also am going to have to talk to my father, and he's not going to be happy with any of this. Maybe I should talk to my mother first. I don't think I should mention it to Joe--my brother can be pretty upset about what he sees as 'other gods'. I don't guess we can blame him. Gaia has meant peace between humans, elves, and dwarfs for centuries. We don't all view her the same, but we all agree that she is the same. There will be people who don't want her to go, and they're not going to listen to us, I expect.
"A christian." I tell her. "There's quite a story to that name, but it's not as relevant here. Only that it refers to Christ, the Savior of mankind or personkind in this case.
"Following Christ is not easy and he foretold that it might rip families apart, but it might also bring them together."
"But that doesn't change what has to be done. I guess this bap-thing you were saying is the next step?"
"In a sense, yes. You remember how it is only an outward sign of something that happens within? Well, it has to happen within first. You now discovered that this is something real, but that is not enough. Let me explain you, now that you are receiving." I say as I take out the wordless book and explain the gospel to her. Showing and telling her about sin, repentance, substitution/intercession of Christ, mercy, grace, restoration and a personal relationship with Christ."
She prays as you suggest. It has a visible impact on her, and you speak briefly about the new life and the joy that it includes.
Then she asks, "I still don't get the part about the orcs. What makes you think they are included in this?"
--M. J. Young
O man! Again with the racial thing! *sigh* ;-)
There is rejoicing and congratulations when she accepts Christ. I might get a bit too familiar and give her a hug. I hope she won't mind. Otherwise there would be an awkward moment and some apologizing.
I look at her with a bit of surprise at her question. "Huh? ... Oh yeah, I forget that you guys don't see them as persons."
My mouth wrinkles in thought. "It's hard to explain.", I tell her, "You need to be open for a whole new idea. But you already did that today, so I know you can."
I smile at her and look around the room as I go on. "Rather then explaining it, I think it would be best to learn through experience." My eyes settle on the servant girl holding a tray with our drinks. She must have come in while we where (or were?) praying and decided not to interrupt us.
"Come over here please. You can put that tray down if you want.", I tell her. "Please tell me, what is your name?" (sorry about that Mark)
I continue to ask her some questions.
"And what is your favorite food? Do you have a favorite color? Please, don't be afraid to tell us. What do you like to do? Do you like drawing or singing, maybe hearing or telling stories?"
"And now one more question. Suppose that somebody was hurt, and lay on the ground, unable to walk. Some persons came buy, not paying attention to him. They left him and went on to somewhere else. Then another person walks over and picks him up, and takes care of him, bringing him somewhere where he can rest. Which person would do the right thing?"
I could go on, but I'll be stopping here and see the reactions. Should miss Kucher want to stop this, I ask her if she wants to learn. Assuming her to want to learn, I ask her not to question me and to pay close attention.
Hey, this whole world is about "the racial thing". On one level, it's a study in seventeenth/eighteenth century slavery, because the same dynamic, the "these are not humans" concept, is at work here, and most players struggle with that dynamic because it is accepted in the RPG culture that orcs are not human, despite the fact that elves and dwarfs somehow are. That's also the mindset in this world, and that's really one of the aspects of it that makes your particular take on this world so very powerful: your gospel message not only saves the humans, elfs, and dwarfs, it includes the orcs as also people, and that challenges the very foundations of this culture in much the same way that it challenged the foundations of Jewish belief concerning gentiles in the first century.
She stops you before the hug. This might be an exciting moment, but there is still some propriety to be observed by the boss's daughter. She apologizes awkwardly, saying that it might be appropriate someday, but not today.
The girl brought the beverages before you were praying (it doesn't take as long to get beverages as it does to go through the book and answer the questions). She has been standing unobtrusively by the wall. She comes over obediently when you summon her.
while we where (or were?) praying
"Were". "Where" is an adverb of uncertain place sometimes used as a pronoun, "Where were you?" "I was where the accident happened." "Were" is a form of the verb "to be" which recurs sometimes as the subjunctive and sometimes as the imperfect or other past tense, in various persons and numbers, and is frequently used as a helping form to create past or subjunctive tenses for other verbs. Is that helpful?
"Please tell me, what is your name?" (sorry about that Mark)
No problem, standard answer ready: She tells you her name. (Insert appropriate emoticon here.)
"And what is your favorite food? Do you have a favorite color? Please, don't be afraid to tell us. What do you like to do? Do you like drawing or singing, maybe hearing or telling stories?"
I am assuming that the particular answers to these questions don't much matter, as long as we agree that she answers them and that her answers are appropriate for a young girl (probably between nine and twelve, at least from her appearance relative to a human girl). She has a favorite food and a favorite color, and she does play and sing (drawing would be more difficult, as there is some expense to paper). The orcs do share stories with each other, and she likes those.
"And now one more question. Suppose that somebody was hurt, and lay on the ground, unable to walk. Some persons came buy, not paying attention to him. They left him and went on to somewhere else. Then another person walks over and picks him up, and takes care of him, bringing him somewhere where he can rest. Which person would do the right thing?"
"That's a hard question," she says, looking particularly uncertain. "It's wrong to talk to strangers. But it isn't always wrong, because sometimes you have to talk to strangers. I guess that the right thing is helping the injured person. Is that right?"
Kathrine asks her, "How do you know that? Is it because you were taught that here?"
"No, Miss," she says. "I mean, we were taught a lot of things. I just thought, if I was the person who was hurt, I would want someone to take care of me, so I would think that was the right thing for someone to do."
--M. J. Young
I smile as the girl answers and am pretty surprised by her last answer. I hadn't thought of that. (Then again, I had no clue to her age. It could have been 14 or 16)
I am also surprised, gladly surprised by Kathrine's interjection. She's getting it.
I look at Kathrine. "What can you conclude from this?"
Would it make a difference if I told you that I try to practice 'active listening' on Katherine? It might already be assumed, but it includes watching body language as well. I assume it is part of the teaching package, as I've learned it as a way to approach kids, even todlers, and it helps to analyze or observe the motives and motivations of the subject. It's reading between the lines. It is part of but also assists/supports empathy.
Something totally unrelated. You don't need paper to draw ;-)
You still have no clue to her actual age. Orcs are smaller than humans but mature much more quickly, and thus seem older than their size or their years would suggest.
"You're suggesting that a sense of what is right and wrong would prove that she is as human as we are. I don't know that it does. First, as she said, she has been taught many things. Jungle orcs frequently raid farms and ranches, taking our livestock and our crops. They apparently do not know that stealing is wrong. We try to teach our orcs like we teach our children, to respect property. She probably also learned about respecting life from us, even though she doesn't realize that. Also, I note that her interest in the injured person was entirely selfish. I would hope that humans would help others because the other is in need and we recognize an obligation to help those in need; she said that she would want to be helped if she were the injured person. So maybe she has moral sense, and maybe having moral sense proves she is a person; but maybe she does not have real moral sense, and maybe that wouldn't prove that she is human, either. I can teach a dog that it is wrong to take food off the table, or that it is wrong to attack the sheep. That doesn't make the dog a person."
O.K., so how would someone draw absent a drawing surface like paper? Slaves don't really own many things.
--M. J. Young
I assume that is out of character info for me. (about the aging of orcs.)
I smile. She has good questions and thoughts. They might be a bit on the ideological side though. "Selfless love is a rare quality even among humans.", I tell her, "as are humans that do good things. You raise them like a human child, does that mean that the human child is not yet a person?"
"This book, which contains God's word, tells me that Christ teaches something about this. He tells us that a man may die for a friend or even for a stranger if he's truly exceptional, but none have died for their enemies sake. Except Christ Himself as He died for us, when we were still enemies of God, enemies of Him, showing no love for Him."
"That is to say, the wild orc, and even the enslaved ones, do bad stuff, but they may realize that it is bad when they are doing it and still keep doing it. If true people don't do that and only do good things, Christ would not have needed to come.", I told her as I waved the little booklet at the last statement.
"Orcs do bad things, people do bad things. So in this they are the same. Some are exceptional. You are exceptional for providing hospitality to me, a complete stranger. Mary here (She's become Mary in my mind. She might have a more complicated orc name) is exceptional for using empathy to place herself in the place of someone in need, even though she has been warned for strangers and does not know them." I smile at Mary.
"I propose an experiment of sorts. I've given you the idea of an entirely new way of thinking. I do not expect you to change your mind over night. I would like for you to learn from practice as I've said. So I suggest this, if you are willing to give this idea a chance.
"Observe Mary and the other slaves for a week. Compare their actions to the actions of humans, should those be in the same conditions, if you are able. Let us then discuss your observations. What do you say?"
A stick in the ground/sand/mud, charcoal or mud on walls and big stones.
Your familiarity with Bredd and Qormlach would have given you some initial sense of that difference between human and orc maturation rates and sizes. Probably I gave you more detail than you would have surmised, but you're a pretty intuitive guy, and much of that you'd have deduced.
She agrees.
What next?
--M. J. Young
Well, thank the slave girl and let her on with her work and actually eat the lunch. After that back to work (after proper goodbyes and making a following appointment). Does she want to talk some more about baptism? I wouldn't bring it up myself though.
I don't know how long a saddle takes to be made, but I'm a bit curious how it would turn out.
In the evening I'll be trying to visit some of the people who want to get baptized (I'd like to ask what discernment of spirit's I make there. Do I feel good or evil with some persons?) That will be the same for the week. The bible translation would be halted for the duration of this week until after the baptism.
She wants to be included in the baptism, but she doesn't have more comments or questions about it.
A saddle is a very complicated bit of leather work, including some wood framing and some padding but lots of leather in layers and cross-patterns, straps with buckles, and more. Robert can finish one in a couple of days, but it will take you much longer to do yours, as you are still a student here.
You have a strong assurance that these people are all sincerely seeking the Lord and coming for baptism as part of their new faith.
--M. J. Young
Then, unless there's some demons manifesting during talking with the people to be baptized let's get to the baptism, my meeting with Kathrine or the finished saddle; whichever comes first.
During this week and even 'this' evening, I pray that Katherine might see that orcs are really people. (Third party revelation prayer if possible)
This looks like a new third party revelation prayer--which is of course possible, but means we need to construct it. The two that already are listed read:
- 1@2 Pray for Third Party Revelation M7@7 while walking, requires successful use of Prayer Tongues M7@1 40:00 TF asks God to reveal Himself to a specified other individual +38SM
- 1@1 Prayer for Third Party Revelation M+7@7 pray aloud 15:00 for God to speak to people through the words and actions of the user and his companions, -3SM
--M. J. Young
eyes closed
pray part of in tongues
15 min
Pray that God reveals a particular truth (about her world) to a specific person.
You pray earnestly for this, and then retire for the night.
The next few days are routine. You see Miss Kucher from a distance a few times, as she is often in the vegetable garden overseeing the work there, but she only smiles and waves and returns her attention to her work as you continue to yours. The saddle is progressing nicely, with Robert's advice and oversight.
The next big event is the baptism, which is happening on an afternoon when most of the workers are free. As mentioned, you are using a pond not far from the ranch housing complex in a pasture not currently in use. It will be early afternoon when everyone gathers, including Bredd, Kathrine, and quite a few other human believers and their family members. Mr. Kucher is also present, standing in the back observing.
--M. J. Young
I suddenly realize that I should have asked Mr. Kucher for permission, or at least talk with him about it. I will go apologize with him and tell him that if he wants to talk some more about it, I will be very glad to arrange for a walk with him, or some dinner.
At the baptism, we will tell what we are doing, we will explain the gospel, using the wordless book colors with the colored cloths. We will leave some time for testimonies from the people that are going to get baptized. I would like for everyone to publicly tell why they are getting baptized in a few short lines. After this they get baptized by full immersion and in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
When that's over, there is a celebration. I will have tried to get some cake arranged.
ooc: They would have been told about this short testimony beforehand, and even helped a bit when I was visiting each one of them personally. (see a few posts back)
Mr. Kucher is calm but firm, stating that he can't interfere with the religious decisions of his employees but he will not allow his slave Bredd or his daughter Kathrine to be put through this pagan ritual. She tries to argue but he silences her with that sort of "I'm your father" look, and she hangs her head. Bredd just looks frightened.
--M. J. Young
Oooh, that's a bummer! My own past is catching up with them.
Let us hope that the testimonies and the preaching change his mind. I will not baptize them today. If really needed we can try to do this secretly some days later. And the ritual is only a testimony to the inward change. It is not the inward change itself.
"We will not baptize you today." I tell Katherine and Bredd. "But I will try to talk with him some more in the next week. Maybe I can convince them. We should all pray that he will change his mind. Maybe we could come together for that?"
This puts something of a spanner in the works. I believe that Bredd was slated to be the first baptized, but that you were going to have testimonies before baptism. I expected that Bredd and Kathrine would be near the beginning of those testimonies. But then, there's been no statement that they can't speak--only that they can't be baptized.
So give me your updated program, and we'll proceed with the service.
--M. J. Young
Yeah, I figured as much (but too late, as I was at work).
Bredd and Katherine will not be testifying nor be baptized. I'm sad about it, but I will try to speak with her father some more tomorrow or the day after that.
Further everything will go as planned. I will take some time alone with Bredd and Katherine after the Baptism, to talk about the next steps.
The presence of Mr. Kucher puts a damper on everyone's spirits here. The men testify, but none of them have the dynamic life-changing moments Bredd and Kathrine have had. It does not help that Kathrine is obviously quietly fuming at her father (Hmmm--unusual idiom, it means that she has an anger metaphorically similar to a smouldering fire).
You conduct the baptism, and it certainly has meaning for those baptized, but there is a cloud over the entire service.
Mr. Kucher waits for the formal ceremony to end, and then orders Bredd back to his quarters and tells Kathrine to come with him back to the house. She glares at him, and glances helplessly toward you, but leaves with him as ordered.
--M. J. Young