"Okay, so tell me," Friday said to Eron on their way back for their evening out together. "What exactly is involve in becoming a paladin? I've heard bits and pieces, but I haven't really managed to put them together."
"Well," Eron began. "The first step is to become a knight. Knights have to pledge Fealty."
"Which is?"
"Obey and protecting the patron and their ideals. The leader. Techincally that's God, but for the sake of simplicity it's generally accepted to be the head priest. In times past, the patron has been a King."
"I see."
"Already by just being a member of the Order of Light, we're expected to had Faith and Honour, but we don't have to take vows. And with knighthood we're expected to display Courage, but again, a vow isn't neccesary for anything but Fealty."
"Okay."
"Anyway, before a knight can become a paladin, he has to take all seven vows - which includes a renewing of the Fealty vow - in a special ceremony. However, the vows don't take effect until after the paladin-to-be had completed a quest."
"What kind of quest?"
"They usually go off for a period of time, sometimes only a few weeks, sometimes a year and accomplish... something," Eron shrugged.
"Something? That's kinda vague."
"It's different from paladin to paladin," Eron said. "It's not a task set by man, it's a task set by God."
"That must make it a little difficult to accomplish... Unless the head priest?"
"No," Eron replied firmly. "The head priest has nothing to do with it. We rely on God to show us the thing we have to do, and it needs to be done for the right reason too. It can't be simply blind ambition."
"So, what, God speaks to you?"
"God speaks to everyone, even those who don't believe in him," Eron answered. "But his voice doesn't generally come as a big booming voice from the sky, it comes as, as, as all sorts of things, and you know in you spirit that it's God speaking to you."
Friday looked at him sceptically.
"God speaks to me, even though I think he's a load of crock? Okay, maybe I don't think he's a complete load of crock nowadays, but I did before aliens and vampires and all this... stuff... came into my life."
Eron chuckled.
"Of course he does," Eron informed her. "He loves you very much, even though you don't really believe in him."
"Odd."
"Not really. He did create you, after all."
"Uh huh."
"Okay," Eron grinned. "You go on being the sceptic, and I'll go on knowing the truth."
"That God loves me oh so much that he sent his only son to die on the cross for me?" Friday rolled her eyes. "I've heard that one only a million times. Y'know, I've noticed that the Bible doesn't exactly address aliens."
"You've read the Bible, have you?"
"Well, not really. I know some of the stories though."
"The Bible addresses every issue."
Friday snorted.
"No, really, it does," Eron insisted. "Okay, so maybe it doesn't address every issue specifically right down to names and phone numbers, but it does in principal."
"Uh huh."
"No really. I can tell you where aliens do come into it. I can tell you that the Bible applies to aliens just as much as it applies to mutants and humans. See even though Jesus was a Jew, he spoke people who weren't Jewish, and so did his diciples, despite the critisim that they got about the matter. It says in ummm," Eron frowned for a moment. "Somewhere in Galations - and probably other places for that matter - that we are all sons of God through our faith in Jesus."
"Sons?"
Eron gave her a look for her cynical remark.
"That's not being sexist and you know it."
Friday chuckled.
"Why, if I recall correctly, the verse even goes on to say that there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for we all all one in Jesus Christ."
Friday poked her tounge out at him.
"How'd this get into a theological discussion anyway? I only asked about how you became a paladin."
"We were talking about the quest."
"Ahh. The quest that not even the quester knows what they're going to do until God mystically tells them in the chance falling of a bag of bones."
"I can assure you that we don't resort to bone reading. Or tea leaves. Or tarot cards Or astrology. Or any other worldly and occult ideas you could think of."
Friday giggled.
Galations 3: 26 to 29
You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,
for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.