ensemble bible study club

[espansivo]

☆ members ☆
leo tsukinaga
tsukasa suzakura
nazuna nito
kuro kiryuu
makoto yuuki
ritsu sakuma
mizuki sena
miai garyuu
kazuki oogami

this is for like, everything else, memory stuff generally goes here

Comments

[idolworship]

i think it's a fine answer
life feels awfully long, after all
most people don't think about where they might like to go after death
until it's near time for them to die
you're still just a young chick
so there's no need to be so hasty

[stressweets]

Death waits for no one, Miai.

[idolworship]

are you so prepared for death
that you would have your will and destination sorted out already?
if so, you're far more precocious than i would have expected

[stressweets]

Not at all. I'm not Buddhist, after all ☆
It's simply a fact.
Fufu, but it's more important to celebrate the life you're living now... The life you share with others around you, and such.
That's what I've been taught.

[idolworship]

that's the spirit ♪
while i'll admit my faith tends to focus on the destination
we like to talk a bit about enjoying your time here
through all forms of goodness available
which, i suppose, explains a little bit about me... ♪
but i think that's important too
no matter what happens
you'll only be as you are in this moment
so it'd be a shame just to waste it
by always looking forward
and losing sight of where you are

[stressweets]

That's Christianity, right?
Is it really so hedonistic?

[ tsukasa, ]

Ah, not that I mind, but I guess that's why Leonii seems to have fallen into it a little...
Even though he can still remember all of our stories, and still perform all the same duties, too.

[espansivo]

no i fell into it because a very pretty boy asked me if i'd liked to be saved today

[may or may not be exact,]

[stressweets]

[ leonii....... ]

You're not joking, are you.

[espansivo]

miai has like
different hair now
but let me tell you, tsuka, he was proof that god let his angels roam the earth to that little asshole

[he isn't joking.]

[idolworship]

( .................. )

this sounds like i ought to go blonde again

[espansivo]

[..................]

don't be swayed by my account
make it whatever you'd like

[idolworship]

haha
i was thinking of dyeing it some new color anyway
well
my first thought was to cut it
but i think i might look odd with it any shorter ...

[espansivo]

like
how short were you thinking of making it

[idolworship]

around my ears, maybe?
i hadn't thought too far

[espansivo]

[oh............ cute. that'd be pretty cute, actually, even if leo couldn't






he can't do that gesture in good faith anymore anyway, maybe it's better to cut it short.]

think a little more on it
cause you'd be pretty cute with hair that short
but i think you do look best with what you've got right now
it's ju~st right ♪

[alright that went Great leo.]

[idolworship]

( he feels so easy right now frik )

maybe i'll think about it
but who knows ♪
i'd definitely like to do something though
if i don't cut it
i'd definitely dye it
i was considering silver but
then i might seem related to micchan and kacchan?
and i think they might be just a step away
from a restraining order already

[idolworship]

haha
it's actually catholicism
a special branch of it
i can teach you more about it in person, if you'd like

( BRIEF. paus.e. that was out of habit but he realizes he can't, solicit tsukasa of all people, )

well
just if you're curious
you should tell me more about shintoism, too
what i've learnt i've learnt mostly from leo
regardless

( wipes sweat from brow )

it's a branch that emphasizes
embodying goodness and and kindness in your daily life
be as jesus would be, in short
we are not striving for sainthood or favors in heaven
but to ease the burden of sin among our brothers on earth
take their hands in ours, regardless of background or belief
to that end, things that might generally find restriction in other branches of faith
such as alcohol or sex
are treated with transparency and care
we donate to sexual education programs in schools, for example

so it's not necessarily about hedonism
so much as celebrating and being responsible with
every gift god has given us
whether it is being there for your neighbor as a friend or a partner
to treat sexuality as inherently vile is simply what the devil wants
to instill us with shame, anxiety, and fear
and rend us apart from within
of course, we abide by imperatives of god with caution
so we do not feast ourselves into sin;
we draw a hard line, for instance
at the injury of others
emotional or physical
there is no such thing as goodness in pleasure derived
of course
at the expense of thy neighbor

[stressweets]

[ hm. this treads spiderwebs. ]

I see.
Are you still punished for sinning if you do it on accident, or if you're ignorant to it...?
Like, if you just do something because you want to, and you don't consider how it might make someone else feel, because they haven't said anything.
So you don't, like, understand or know that it's hurting them somehow, but it is...
Is that still sin, or does sin become sin when you become aware of it?

[idolworship]

haha
i feel like a priest teaching sunday school
(not in a bad way, of course)
are you not scolded as a child when you spill a glass of milk?
are you not scolded if, when playing outside
with your bat and ball,
and, without you knowing it,
when it falls over the fence
it goes and breaks the neighbor's window?
carelessness is sin, inherently, but
it is also human nature
i think it is the one to fear least
since it can be learned from
if you spill your glass
or put a hole in the neighbor's house
or, for instance, hurt the feelings of a friend
you're more likely not to do it again
once you've been made aware
it is always wrong, but
change happens in the moment you realize you have done it
at least, i'd like to think so

[stressweets]

If that's the case, then I'd like to think so, too.
The world would be a much nicer place, in that case...
Even if there are people who don't care, or people who think, "Well, they should get tougher skin," and etc.
Are those kinds of people, who acknowledge they hurt someone and still keep doing what they're doing regardless, because of good reasons or bad ones, unsalvageable?

[idolworship]

i don't think there's any such thing as a person who can't be saved
people, with time, will change
whether they regret what they've done at 80
or now
in public or in private
it will catch up to them soon enough
no matter the circumstance
i would consider them salvageable
it's just much more difficult the more
stubborn they are
is all

[stressweets]

[ ... ]

Okay.
What interested you the most out of Leonii's talks?
I'm still learning, so I'm definitely not as good as him, but I'm willing to answer anything you wish to know ♪

[idolworship]

( "okay" is an interesting response but he guesses sin talk is a lot for a kid tsukasa's age, like, 14 or whatever it was )

hmmmm
i'm a little curious about
modern day faith?
how it works in day to day?
do people actively worship?
where are the gods and what do they do?
can anything become a god?
i picked up a little bit
from leo and when
i went to japan but
you, of course, would know more than i do

[stressweets]

[ He's Seventeen, Miai. ]

What a variety...

I can't speak for Japan, but it probably isn't too different from Recollé...
Most people come to the shrine for special occasions, festivals, important dates and ages, the first of the month, and so on and so forth. It isn't...
Mmm, I wouldn't call it "worship".
Just because Shintoism and other religions are different--it isn't religious so much as it is spiritual..?
There are gods in everything, Miai.
In the sky, in animals, in the grass. Trees, rocks, sound, storms.
Anything you can think of.
But that's getting off track.
Essentially, some people are more devoted than others. Each member of my family, including myself, prays to both our family shrine (which is dedicated to Inari Okami, just like our inherited shrine, since that's the god for area we live in--which is at the shrine) and to one established to Amaterasu Omikami.
They're fairly small, but important.
But for others, it isn't like that. Ah, but we tend the shrine, so it probably isn't surprising we're at this level of devotion...
I still don't think I'd call it worship. It's simply something we do, because we were raised to do it.

I think that covers at least a few of your questions..?
The heavenly gods, like Amaterasu Omikami and the Seven Lucky Gods and Tenjin-sama, reside in a place called Takamagahara.
I don't know if I can describe what they do with certainty... Um, that is, it isn't as if they don't do nothing, but...
For those who put their all into everything, who show sincerity, purity, and uprightness, who do their best--
They're the type of people who are blessed by the gods' favors. If you work hard and perform your duties to the best of your abilities, whatever those may be, certainly the gods you send your wishes to will listen and help you along.
That kind of thing.
As for if everything can become a god...
If there's good reason for it, it will be deified.
For example, Tama the station master was quite beloved ♪ Thousands of people went to visit her funeral after she passed, from what I remember. She was also given a wonderful title, enshrined at a local cat shrine, and continues to watch over the station.
Sugawara no Michizane, on the flip side, was a famous poet and scholar until a certain clan had him exiled. After his death, terrible storms and disasters raged in the capital, killing many members of that clan. The emperor commanded he be given a shrine under the name Tenjin, in order to pacify what was very obviously his angry spirit.
He's now associated with scholarship and education--even I pray to Tenjin-sama for good grades, when exams come around, and the strength to continue studying--which is quite a turnaround from his original connotations of natural disaster..~

[ ........ ]

Ah, um
Sorry Miai
No, sorry everyone.
I didn't mean to type so much...
I think that covers all of it though..? This is all based on pure Shintoism... It's common to adopt more than one belief, since they rarely conflict (Buddism is popular for that reason, especially with their growth together), but my family only adheres to Shinto themselves...
Even our funeral rites are Shinto.

[idolworship]

( 15? got it )

don't apologize ♪
you get full marks
no, extra credit
i feel like i've learnt so much ♪
i really do like learning about
the worship and gods of other people
well, in this case
the tradition and gods
so interwoven into the person of the country
it becomes simply habit; given beliefs
how beautiful
i suppose you could say there is a
god in everything you do

thank you ♪ my stomach feels full
ama-chan really is an ama-chan after all ♪