Author: Olle Jonsson (---.tiscali.dk)
Date: 02-05-2004 01:42
Me too.
(Intensely Capitalized Text will follow. The bearing on RPGs? It serves as sourcebook material for Religious Nordic Countries, maybe as a module for the French RPG Worldless Gods, to-be-published by Flawless Role-playing Press. All the following is patently true.)
When I was a teen [1] I went to the obligatory Summer Bible Camps: hormones, social interaction as a person independent from my parents, hormones, sneaking out, youthly friendships, etc. ad nauseam. The lot.
The point of the excercise, apart from gaining all those social skills, was for young people to have Rel. Exp. (R-XP!) To Meet God, Join In Prayer, Feel The Spirit, Touch The Screen Except There Is No Screen.
Meeting God when you are fifteen, that is sort of a reach. The parents go for gold with The R-XP at Summer Bible Camp, but... even if the kid does not commune with the Maker, the mental ground is smoothed, the road to a Meeting is paved. You get to learn the ropes; what can be included in R-XP; what is totally off-limits; what the feeling Should Be Like; what to say, how to stand, fall or lie down when the Spirit falls down on one. One learns how to Feel God's Presence. One learns the discourse of God-Meeting.
When that knowledge is secure in a person, the next time they are to display the Right Signs, assume the Correct Posture, say the Right Words, they are able to perform the ritual: to Meet God. Others will notice that a God-Meeting Experience is in process. If you are really good at what you are doing, others will know such an experience is soon under way.
I have now outlined the cultural object Meeting God. With the following checklist you could insert contemporary church
Checklist:
- Hands open, palms forward (as in the "Mom says wow" gesture)
- Tears, fake or real (who is to tell the difference; you can't tell either)
- Touching shoulders, forehead, scalp, is all-right. (Prayer support.)
- Hugging* (even homosexual hugs, as this is a Brotherly/Sisterly one.)
- Sweats (see Tears)
- Shivers (This is one that you realize after a while. No one will tell you about it. They refer to it as "atmosphere", or something fuzzy like that. You *should* feel shivers. That's part of the ride.)
*: Requires Authority:3.
I hope you are enlightened by the above.
Kind regards,
Olle Jonsson
Copenhagen, DK
[1]: I was brought up by Christian parents, in Baptist-style churches, in Sweden. Later developments took Faith away from me. Am I happier for it? I think so, it has reduced the number of oxymorons in my life.
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