Father Mulcahy's Christmas Eve sermon

[fatherfjmulcahy]

Who: Father Mulcahy
What: Christmas sermon
Where: The church
When: Future dated to Christmas Eve
Status: Closed sermon--but if any characters want to socialize post-sermon, they're free to. Unfortunately, Father Mulcahy won't be available--he's busy playing Santa afterwards.
Rating: PG

Comments

[fixgaeta]

Felix wasn't a religious man. Never been. His expertise was in science and math and tangible things. Not some abstract notion of Gods and Goddesses that held the minds of his friends in religious slavery. The Cylons had their God too, and killed for His purpose. Brother Cavil had taken the Colonel's eye and called it heaven's justice.

And when Baltar began to preach the word...

Well, what little respect Felix had left for that scum of a man evaporated.

In the end, religion just...wasn't in his nature.

Friendship, however, was.

--

He sat in one of the pews to the middle of the smallish church filled with a generous amount of people as they listened to Father Mulcahy speak. The man had done so much for him, been a good friend and a good ear. Felix didn't think -- no, he knew that it wouldn't have been the same for him if he hadn't found someone to talk to in those days. The lowest days

[fatherfjmulcahy]

Father Mulcahy had some Santa business to do after the sermon, but he had seen Felix in the pew and wanted to say hello after the service.

"Hello, Felix!" he said with a smile and a warm handshake. "Thank you for coming! How are you?"

[fixgaeta]

"Um, I'm alright!" He smiled awkwardly, taking the Father's hand with a firm shake. "That was a..." A pause. He needed to be polite despite his convictions. "Very lovely sermon."

[fatherfjmulcahy]

"I'm glad to hear that," Father Mulcahy said. He smiled a little at Felix's words, hearing the hesitance. "It's all right, Felix. I know this isn't your belief system, and I appreciate both your coming and your kind words. What are you doing for the holiday?"

[fixgaeta]

Felix laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head. He felt embarrassed, almost, for being called on his atheism. "Yeah -- ah -- I really haven't been doing much, I suppose. My roommate sees it as another excuse to party so I suppose I'll have to keep an eye on her?"

[fatherfjmulcahy]

Father Mulcahy nodded. "I suppose. I did want to tell you that if you ever want to chat and have a bite to eat, just let me know. Since you're from the future, perhaps there isn't the same weight on the holiday, but this is a very lonely time for some people."

[fixgaeta]

"Well, actually the universe I'm from, the major belief system is very -- " He started to correct Father Mulcahy, but bit his tongue halfway through, looking down with a sheepish sort of grin. "Ah. Sorry. Thank you for the kind offer."

(ooc: River has her christmas post to johnny up, btw)

[fatherfjmulcahy]

"No, go on," Father Mulcahy said with a smile. "Believe me, I'm interested in the belief systems of other times and places." He rested a gentle hand on Felix's shoulder. "But you're welcome.

(OOC: Oops, sorry! I'm on it.)

[fixgaeta]

"Well -- it's actually probably familiar to you, then." Felix smiled a little. "Most of the people from my world worship Athena, Apollo, Hera..." He shrugged, folding his arms. "When I was researching Earth's history, I found out that those were gods the people of Earth worshiped millenia ago."

[fatherfjmulcahy]

Father Mulcahy's eyebrows lifted. Now that was interesting! "Athena, Apollo, and Hera? Yes, those are the gods of...pardon my phrasing...the gods of what we would consider ancient Greek mythology. The gods lived high atop Mount Olympus and feasted on nectar and ambrosia." He considered it. "But...you're from the future, aren't you? At least, with space travel, I had assumed as much."

[fixgaeta]

"So I've heard." Felix grinned privately at the mention of ambrosia. Sure it probably wasn't exactly what the gods drank, but it was a heavenly way of getting drunk.

He rubbed the back of his head. "No, it's...I mean, I don't think I'm from the future. My people have never been to Earth. Earth is -- was a myth from the scrolls, where we came from." He stammered for an explanation, and finally grimaced. "Don't suppose that 'it's a long story' will cover it?"

[fatherfjmulcahy]

Father Mulcahy smiled. "Yes, I'm sure you have."

"There doesn't seem to be any continuity to it," Father Mulcahy said, trying to make sense of the rather confusing situation. "It seems almost cyclical. You were looking for Earth, but if you found it, it may have been a time before now." He considered the problem a minute. "Perhaps 'Earth' is a lasting term that the human race understands as home, regardless of when it's used." He smiled. "But 'it's a long story' will work just fine."