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Daimon Hellstrom ([personal profile] birthmural) wrote in [community profile] trans_92009-08-24 09:45 pm

Mmm, good Bible.

Daimon had chosen the location ahead of time. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was sacred, perhaps more so than the Vatican. It was the place where Jesus Christ was crucified and buried. It had also not been descrated.

Many months had passed since Daimon spoke before a group of people. His palms sweat and he wiped his brow. Silently, he asked God for the strength to not simply speak but to speak on behalf of the Lord.

When the time came, he walked up before the assembled, Bible in hand. While he was nervous, perhaps on the verge of a panic attack, his words were strong and passionate and grew surer the more he spoke.

“I recognize that the people on board this ship come from various walks of life. Some of you, perhaps, are not familiar with Christianity. If this is the case, you may ask whatever questions you have and offer me any comments or insights after I have spoken.” Daimon then gave what he called a “brief summary” of Christianity. It was, in fact, very lengthy and detailed and contained heavy praise of Jesus and the love of God. He then moved on to give a similarly “brief summary” of the context behind the Old Testament.

“Some of you are perhaps aware of the book of Job. Job was a prosperous man. He had seven sons and three daughters. He had herds of animals and acres of land. He was a devout worshipper of God. In the story, the Adversary speaks with God and tells him that Job only praises God because he has no reason to blame him. He says that if God takes away from Job all of his blessings, his animals, his land, even his children, then Job will curse God’s name. God answers that Job will retain his faith and permits the Adversary to strip away everything from Job save his health.”

“A series of disasters befall Job. He loses everything, his land, his herd, and even his children.” Daimon paused. “Job is distraught. Throwing himself upon the ground, he cries:

“‘Naked I came from the womb,
naked I shall return from whence I came.
The Lord gives and the Lord takes away;
Blessed be the name of the Lord.’

“The Adversary spoke with the Lord God again. He tells him that Job continues to praise God only because Job himself has not been afflicted. God allows the Adversary to take from Job his health.

“Robbed of his health, bereft of hope, Job laments. He cries out to God, begging for relief, begging for death, and questioning his justice. Each of Job’s friends berate him and encourage him to have faith but Job refuses. Job’s lament continues until God himself answers him. The Lord says:

“‘Brace yourself and stand up like a man;
I shall put questions to you, and you must answer.
Would you dare deny that I am just,
or put me in the wrong to prove yourself right?
Have you an arm like God’s arm;
can you thunder with a voice like his?
Deck yourself out, if you can, in pride and dignity,
array yourself in pomp and splendour.
Unleash the fury of your wrath,
look on all who are proud, and bring them low,
crush the wicked where they stand;
bury them in the earth together,
and shroud them in an unknown grave.
Then I in turn would acknowledge
that your own right hand could save you.’

“At these words, Job kneels and asks for forgiveness. The Lord grants it and Job prospers greater than ever before. He lives to see his grand children and his great grand children and his great great grandchildren. To the end of his days he sang the Lord’s praise.”

Daimon gazed into the eyes of the people before him. “You may ask, as I have, why the Lord would cause a blameless man such grief. You may, as I once did, come away with the sense that God is not just, that he is fickle and cares not for man but this could not be further from the truth. To ask why God could and does allow such horrible events to transpire to such good people would be folly, for it is as the Lord says: we cannot judge him. We cannot know why the Lord acts as he does, nor can we hope to know. We can only have, nay, we must have faith in his actions. For the Lord is greater than all of us. He sculpted us with his hands and breathed into us our souls. The Lord knows more than we can possibly imagine and has our best intentions in his heart, even if it seems to us that he has caused us nothing but misery.

“Why, you may ask, have I told you this story? ‘What meaning could it have on my life?’ And this, I shall tell you. Every one of us on this ship is lost. We have been stripped of our most precious comforts- our home, our friends, our family. We do not know what lies ahead of us. We may despair, we may weep, we may beg for the mercy and guidance of our Lord. On board this ship, even surrounded as we are by each other, we may still feel, as Job felt, alone and abandoned.

“But I tell you that this is not so. You are not alone. The Lord sees you. In your darkest hour, at the hardest time of your life, you must remember that you are loved. You must remember that there is hope, no matter how dire your future seems. Furthermore, I tell you that though you have listened to every word I said and still do not believe, I tell you this: you are still not alone. For though we come from different worlds, cultures, and beliefs, we stand before each other as equals. We stand here together and so I tell you: we are not alone.”

[identity profile] toariversodeep.livejournal.com 2009-08-27 03:06 am (UTC)(link)
Roxie adjusts her glasses a little, again. "But if you really believed one of those, shouldn't you have told the story that way? If you're just going to offer alternative interpretations as soon as it gets questioned, then you shouldn't be giving just a single one from the position of authority." Perceptive little annoyance, isn't she?

[identity profile] kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com 2009-08-27 03:42 am (UTC)(link)
Katara listened to the both of them. This story was weird: so it was possible that the person who afflicted and killed the family was this adversary guy? She was confused.

"If I believe that this Satan killed Job's family and made him suffer, isn't that still the version where he and God still have their discussion? And if that happened, doesn't that mean God still it happen? That's still troubling..."

[identity profile] toariversodeep.livejournal.com 2009-08-27 03:54 am (UTC)(link)
"Weasel words," Roxie says cooly. "You're just avoiding the question."

[identity profile] kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com 2009-08-27 04:35 am (UTC)(link)
"Why wouldn't you answer it?" Katara asked. "You know your world better than we do."

[identity profile] toariversodeep.livejournal.com 2009-08-27 05:03 am (UTC)(link)
"..." Roxie glances over at Katara. "... and, if we're supposed to come to our own conclusions, it seems strange to give any to start with."

[identity profile] el-escarabajo.livejournal.com 2009-08-27 06:18 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, this is not working.

"Mr. Hellstrom, I can take this if you want." Because Damon looks kinda pissed. "I used to be an altar boy annnd I think it'd be easier if I explain it when I'm both the same age and kinda a skeptic."

[identity profile] kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com 2009-08-28 02:46 am (UTC)(link)
Katara noticed it was that same boy from before. She thought she had moved far away enough to not bother him, but apparently he was over here now. She was curiosu as to what an altar boy was, but that question could wait. If he was going to try and explain what they'd just heard. She didn't see why him being as young as they were made a difference, but who knew? Maybe adults and kids just spoke a different language.

"We're listening. Sorry about bothering you before," Katara added.

[identity profile] toariversodeep.livejournal.com 2009-08-28 03:03 am (UTC)(link)
Roxie glances between Daimon and Jaime, waiting expectantly. Her face is still quite flat, though.

[identity profile] el-escarabajo.livejournal.com 2009-08-28 05:33 am (UTC)(link)
"Ah, it's okay. I'm kinda surprised we haven't had more culture clash already," Jaime says, leading them away, and gesturing for them to follow. He did know his way around a bit--at one point he'd been curious about here, and about the Vatican.

The service had been in the chapels in the Church, of which there are many, and when Katara had stormed off, she hadn't gotten far, but he led them to the Rotunda, where--depending on this place's authenticity and depending on if the real thing were actually authentic--Christ's tomb rested.

"The Jesus guy you were talking about earlier is kinda what Christianity is all about. It's kind of hard to explain but it's like even with all the bad stuff and the harsh God in the Old Testament, Jesus is sort of the punctuation mark at the end of the sentence for the whole religion."

[identity profile] kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com 2009-08-28 08:37 am (UTC)(link)
Katara regarded him. "I thought that. In fact, right before the sermon, I was already thinking that this particular religion sounded a little like someone I know back home. He didn't die, like your Jesus did, but people definitely thought he was dead, and the world seemed to be headed to a dark place. He didn't go around healing the sick, but he may as well have: people in my world were becoming sick of a war eating at them, and a hopelessness that was very real. What he was able to do for them, for me, was nothing short of a miracle, and I understood that."

Katara narrowed her eyes. "So before this conversation goes further, I want you to understand something. How I feel has nothing to do with my culture: it has everything to do with ME. I'm the one that kept in time with the Avatar, along with my brother. I'm the one that saw his compassion, a compassion I had too, and strived to understand like him. I'm also the one that helped him when even he was frustrated, when he felt lost even with a strength unrivaled by anything in my world. You could say he was the closest we have to a God, but he was to me a person who loved the world by being in it, living with it. Can you honestly say that the God in the sermon just given sounds like that, like a person who'd move from the mountain he watches from to be with the people he helped create? Can you say, from that story of Job, that he showed him compassion and love like you would your own neighbor?"

Katara realized she wasn't angry anymore. She'd been frustrated at the lack of parallel between Jesus, who she saw as Aang, and God: who she saw as another version of the past Firelords.

[identity profile] toariversodeep.livejournal.com 2009-08-28 01:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Roxie nods a little, but she doesn't say anything. Now that the context isn't just needling Daimon, she's actually lost a little of the comfort that she had—so she's left awkwardly glancing between Katara and Jaime as they talk, repeatedly skipping chances to speak up.

[identity profile] el-escarabajo.livejournal.com 2009-08-28 07:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Image

"Here's the thing. The Old Testament is called Old because it is old. God was harsher in it. Colder. Kinda angrier. But even then, Christians believe that death isn't the end, that when someone dies, if they've lived a virtuous life, that they live on somewhere else, somewhere without all the pain and suffering of Earth. We're afraid of it, and it hurts when we lose who we love, but we believe where we go in the end is a reward. God taking Job's family away is horrible, but if that's true, if there's a better place, then Job's family went there, and Job learned to be even more grateful for the gift he was given...life."

Jaime raises up a finger, before they can interrupt. "Buuut, it's cruel. It is. I think so too, and some Christians think they're not really supposed to question it, but I still do because my parents taught me to and God gave me a mind that questions and a heart that can't stand injustice and it seems unjust. But that's why I look to the New Testament, where Jesus showed up."

[identity profile] kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com 2009-08-28 10:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Katara understood what he was saying, and from what little she had heard, she agreed. She didn't, however, buy everything. "What's the point of a virtuous life if you're only doing it for a reward though? Shouldn't you do it because its right, because you believe in things like justice and helping others? Besides, don't Job;s family have a right to that life too? I'm sure they wanted to live! My problem is that THEY don't get a choice, and really, does Job? Love God or suffer? That doesn't seem balanced at all."

Katara would have given it a name, but even she knew better than to say exactly what word that was. She looked over at Roxie, then at Damion, who'd given the sermon.

"What would you say? You've had longer to think about all of this than any of us have."

[identity profile] toariversodeep.livejournal.com 2009-08-29 01:22 am (UTC)(link)
"If this life doesn't matter, then why is acting 'right' important?" Roxie's calm facade cracks a little as she frowns. "If you're going to say that anyone is 'right', it should be people who help others without needing carrots or sticks wielded by a being they've never met to get them to act."

She folds her arms over her chest. "Besides, when the Book of Job was written, Satan was still being done up as a chief prosecutor, not a figure of evil."

[identity profile] el-escarabajo.livejournal.com 2009-08-29 01:38 am (UTC)(link)
"Actually, I think both are important. This life and the next one. And that brings up another point--every person comes up with their own interpretation of religion and their faith. Some want guidance, though, so they stick to...a framework, to start with. Christianity, being split into all it's denominations has a lot of starting points. Others don't even want that, and come to their own conclusions."

He goes on, "Even as I sat there in mass, I didn't believe everything Mr. Hellstrom here said, or accept all of it, I understand it was his own interpretation, and what comfort I could take in it, I took, and the rest led me to thinking about the parts I didn't agree with or understand. That's what a good pastor does. Reinforces what you believe, but makes you question the things you're unsure of, to come to your own conclusions and search for your own answers. Ultimately it's between every person and whatever God they believe in, and for some, if they don't believe in a God, they believe in good, or themselves, or find other things to have faith about."

He lifts his chin slightly.

"But to answer your question, some people believe there is no carrot. That the reward goes to people who genuinely care about other people, who live a virtuous life not for the reward, but because it's just right to help other people. That people aren't rewarded for doing good things out of selfishness, but rather because they truly believe they're the right thing to do. Personally, I believe the most virtuous people aren't the ones that do it to go to heaven, but--if they were told that doing the right thing would make them suffer in this life or the next--that they'd still do the right thing anyway."

[identity profile] kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com 2009-08-29 01:59 am (UTC)(link)
The waterbender nodded. "I know there are a lot of people out here that have certain beliefs. For instance, we waterbenders do hold a special place for the Moon: it was the every first waterbender and from it we learned how to control the tides. The closest thing we have to gods are Twi and La, two gods who decided to become earthbound. I guess my point is, I agree with what you're saying. I think you SHOULD pick and choose the beliefs you need to help you cope with the good and bad things in the world. I guess my real worry is, well, what some people will do when they read something and take it literally? What if someone thought that Job's story meant they had to fall to their knees and thank God and depend on him only to get through every day? What if they tried to make other people follow that way of thinking whether they believed it or not? I've seen that happen in my world."

She sighed. "I guess that's why that story bothers me. It sounds more rigid than open-ended. People are sometimes unwilling to let others live on their own terms. This is why I like the spirits in my world: they don't give out books, or write down what we should do. They advise, they keep the world in balance. I think that's why I'd like your Jesus stories more. People are more inspired to good by good deeds and humility, not stories that make one more like servants."

Roxie and Damion looked as if they were about to kill each other, and she was a little surprised. "Um, do you guys live in the same world?"

[identity profile] toariversodeep.livejournal.com 2009-08-29 02:17 am (UTC)(link)
"If he was from my world, he'd have been laughed out of it."

She's halfway serious, too.

[identity profile] el-escarabajo.livejournal.com 2009-08-29 02:26 am (UTC)(link)
This is the point where Jaime facepalms. He and Katara seem to be having an entirely different conversation than these two.

"Uh. Okay, so are we talking here or are we snarking at each other? Because I thought we were having a civil conversation."

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