Thesis: On The Gentle Hand

[Schneebo 1593]

 

Guiding with a Gentle Hand

Written by Father Maurus Üvegkészítő

 

Preface:
It has been a longstanding belief of my own that we should not always jump to the whipping of a misbehaving bull, but understand why it misbehaves in the first place. If we are to continue to lead our flock and faith into greener pastures, we must not always jump to violence and persecution. We must try and steer them back on the right path through education and patience… If we continue to cull and persecute those who look different or worship our Lord in what may be a strange way, we threaten our own existence.

I wish to implore my Brothers and Sisters of Faith to question before we strike down the sinner. There may be hope and a spark that remains to return them back to the warmth of our Lord, God. If you wish for examples, please come visit Sister Solene and I in the Monastery of the Wayward Heart and we would be happy to offer guidance and assistance.

 

Purpose:

There are those not just amongst our kin, but around the world that would first seek to correct with violence rather than with kindness. It is my duty to offer an insight into my practice and school of thought when it comes to those who have doubts within their heart or for converting the pagans that we welcome within our fold.

It is wise of us to seek to offer strangers a handshake and warm meal rather than a closed fist and the taste of steel. For the more we turn away and frighten by the might of our God, the more they are likely to convert to more paganistic beliefs and dabble in the Betrayer’s magical cabals. The more we can show the righteous path, the better it is for the health of our flocks.

Leading with a Gentle Hand:

“For I have given you the pains of the world, and I have given you their cure. And you shall know the trials of this theater of virtue, and know that they shall strengthen you.” (Scroll of Virtue, Canticle of Patience, Verses 7-8)

 

To lead a flock, whether in faith or in politics, must consider a lighter hand. We must always ask ourselves, what we can do for our people and not always what the people can do for us. Our mission is to serve and we should seek to do such through more than just prayer and confessionals. We seek to do more for those of the faith and those beyond - we must be the warmth we always speak of.

If we are not willing to do such for our flocks and those beyond, there will be those who are willing even if under deceiving guise. If we are open with our intentions and lead with kindness when appropriate, then our bonds between Brother and Sister will grow stronger and our flock will grow larger. We must be the beacon of hope that our God had always wished for us to be.

 

Striking with a Gentle Hand:

“I am the Lord GOD without peer, and My Word is the holy word, and My path is the virtuous path, and all the blessings of the Virtue shall fall before the righteous who tread it.” (Scroll of Virtue, Canticle of Faith, Verse 9)

This is to not say that one should allow the repeated sinner or the conspirators of evil to freely walk within our blessed lands. We shall not let those who wish to actively poison the well time and time again to be free and without burden. These people should still be cut down and their bodies torched in righteous flames. We should not afford them last rites or even an attempt to worm their way out of what needs to be done.

It is our duty to test, determine, and weed out those who appear to be wretched creatures of the shadows and cut them down before they can fester. There are those who wear the skin of man, but do the biddings of evil… and those who wear the skins of evil and do the biddings of man.
 

 

Conclusion

We must understand when to use the tools of patience and violence appropriately so as to not dwindle or become corrupted. Our hands are capable of doing both, but we must be able to differentiate when to use either one. For a vampyre may be cured of its afflictions, but the one spreading this disease should be struck down. Again, I welcome all to visit Sister Solene and I if you wish to discuss or learn.

 

[Nectorist 12869]

What is the best way to teach a child?

 

Teachings from a book came easier than those at the end of a hand-whip, but the latter was all that filled my mind when I attended my lessons each and every day. A single verse wrong, a passage misinterpreted, or a rule questioned would bring me a look of damnation and bloody knuckles. It made me nothing short of one of the most devoted to the Lord, but devotion to an idol is hollow. We give our lives to God, the Almighty, the ever-loving, He Who Brings Good, not the foreboding instructor glaring from the corner. Often lost in rigidity is the experiential: to live a virtuous life above performing individual acts of virtue. So I was molded as a boy by the sharp hand that took glee in correction and feared only the day that I would bat it away.

 

When my education in the Faith was later overseen by my predecessor, I was instructed far more productively. Corrections to my errant thought still came, both more frequently and in greater depth, but his voice was not the whip of rebuke. Mistake was opportunity, and with opportunity I became eager to learn and apply myself. Beyond just understanding the principles of the Faith, that which I would dedicate my life to, I came to love it and my place within it. My love for the Lord had never wavered, but my love for the life given for Him blossomed. So I was made a man by reason, logic, and faith, whose avenues are not to be exercised in the violent setting, but instead through a gentler, kinder way, that being discussion, instruction, and reception.

 

HIS HOLINESS, CAIUS II

 

High Priest of the Temple of the True Faith, Successor of Clement and Evaristus, High Pontiff of the Church of True Faith, Servant of the Servants of Heaven, Servant of the Holy Flame, Apostle of Saint Lucien, Envoy of Aeldin, High Servant to the Prophet’s Testaments, Humble Servant of the Faithful and Vicar of GOD