Theology Class [open to any students]

[Jubilee]

(ooc: This isn't urgent, so just post in it when you get the chance, after you do current stuff and what not. Just wanted to get some class action for once and stuff. Open to anyone, no one's obliged to come except Nightie)

'School is such a drag,' was all Jubilation Lee could think as she stared blankly at her textbook. Usually, theology was one of the few exceptions to the rule, because it was not only taught by Kurt Wagner, but it gave Jubes a chance to argue with him and with her fellow peers.

But today, she had gotten lost somewhere back near the beginning of the lesson, and when they'd been given the assignment to write two pages on the subject and given the rest of the period to get started, Jubes couldn't figure out where she was even supposed to begin. Glancing over at Kitty, Jubilee was disgruntled to see that Ms. Know-It-All already had nearly a page written. Not about to sit there bored for the next fifteen minutes, she looked up to Kurt at his desk and broke the silence.

"Uhh...Mr. Wag?" It was the closest to 'Mr. Wagner' Jubilee would get, and she reserved it for in-class use only. When she thought about him, she thought mostly of any of the many nicknames she had come up for him, which she called him out loud at times, too. "I need some serious help on this puppy," she said, picking up her blank piece of paper and showing him just how much she understood about the topic.

[Nightcrawler]

Kurt was sitting at his desk in the front of the classroom, coat hanging on a hook near the door and his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, enjoying the relative quiet as he flipped through the later chapters in the text from with the class was reading. His pencil darted over a notepad as his solid writing appeared as notes in German - partly because it was easier for him to read and write his native tongue, and partly because he always enjoyed surprising the class with insights, and it helped if they couldn't read them before hand as they passed his desk.

Glancing up at the sound of Jubilee's voice, he found her standing in front of his desk with a blank piece of paper clutched in her hands. Setting his pencil down, he leaned back in his chair and looked up at her.

"Well, Fräulein Lee, what do you know about the topic?" he asked, glancing at the sentence written on the white board. In his all-caps writing, it read, "Describe the similarities between the basic values and principles of Islam and Christianity and theorize how these similarities came about."

[Jubilee]

“Okay, so I can do the similarities and stuff, that’s not the problem. But it’s this that’s got me stumped,” Jubilee said, plopping her textbook down on his desk facing him and plunking one bright-yellow-polished finger down on a diagram on the page. “This ‘Scrotum Fideei’ thing or whatev.” She’d butchered the name without a second thought.

“Cause, see…that’s not what Islam believes, is it? I mean, obviously they don’t believe in J.C. bein’ on God’s level, but…” Jubilee made a sound of frustration as her words got tangled up and what she was trying to say wouldn’t right itself.

“I guess I’m thrown off ‘cause I don’t even understand this whole…Trinity thing. I mean, ‘The Father’ is not ‘God’?” She quoted the chart, pointing to it. “Since when?”

Clearly, what was drawing her back was a difference in beliefs between herself and the Trinity. And if a debate sparked from this, then all the better to put off homework with.

[Nightcrawler]

Kurt looked down at the diagram in the book, chuckling to himself at her mangling of the pronunciation. Clearly he'd have to work a little more with the class on pronunciation. "This is the Scutum Fidei, Miss Lee."

One of his fingers traced the lines leading from the center point to the circle reading 'The Father.' "What this tells us is that the Father is God, but the Father is not the Son. All three are God, but they are not each other."

Scratching his chin, Kurt leaned back in his chair. "Think of a mall, Miss Lee. Many different stores selling many different things, but they are all still stores, ja?"

[Jubilee]

Jubilee’s eyes lit up, and a smile spread across her face as she began to understand thanks to Kurt’s analogy. “Ohh! Why didn’t they just say it like that?” The fact that the book hadn’t been written to suit a sixteen year old mall rat didn’t occur to her.

But slowly her eyes narrowed, giving her smile a much more rabble-rousing look. “But…Isn’t the most important thing that fact that the stores are so different? Like, what’s the point in all the store windows having different stuff in them if on the inside every single one sells shades? If every store in the mall were the same, why not just have one big mondo store?”

In her mind, the analogy continued to make perfect sense; the fact that Kurt was less of a mall enthusiast than she was didn’t cross her mind. But the basic question was there: What would be the point of having God show himself in three different ways?

[Nightcrawler]

Kurt smiled, looking at her with calm eyes. If he'd learned anything teaching Jubilee, it's that she would do whatever she could to get out of actually writing the assignment.

"But the stores do not all sell shades, and neither do the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit do the same things.

"And these are all things we can read about and discuss..." He picked up his pencil and smiled broadly at her. "... tomorrow."

[Jubilee]

Jubilee started immediately to argue with Kurt. "But what do they do, then--" But stopped abruptly when he told her without really telling her that she ought to go sit down and start on her paper. She flashed him a somewhat guilty but unabashed smile.

"You know, you said that Tuesday, Big Bl--Sir," she reminded him, remembering her manners at the last minute, which in itself might shock Kurt's socks off. If he wore socks. If they even made socks for guys with three huge toes. "My attention span may be short, but I'm no goldfish."

She picked up her paper and her book, tucking her pencil behind her ear, and said with exaggerated heaviness, "But aaaalriiight...I guess I can figure it out now..." Even her words drug out, wasting every last second possible until the bell would ring and she'd be home free.

[Nightcrawler]

Kurt laughed, surprising the rest of the classroom. "Miss Lee, you are supposed to write about the similarities between the morals of the two religions, not their views on God." He flipped through the open text on his desk, stopping two chapters later. "This is where the in-depth look at the Triune God is. If you'd like to read ahead and stay after class tomorrow, then you can throw questions at me and see which ones stick."

His eyebrow quirked up at her use of sir, but he didn't comment on it. "As for right now, I think you all have had enough." He slipped his pencil behind a pointed ear and closed the textbook. "Class is dismissed. Don't forget to work on your essays."

[Jubilee]

Jubilee didn't even need to answer his suggestion that she stay after class and discuss further. She knew he knew her better than that. When he said the sweetest words in the english language - 'class is dismissed' - for once Jubilee didn't bolt out the door.

She shut her book and walked back to her desk as everyone else filed out of the room, collecting her brightly colored Lisa Frank messenger bag and putting her book in it. When she stood and hung the bag from her shoulder, she turned back to Kurt.

"You know, I don't think you ever let anything ruffle your feathers, Big Blue," she said, finally able to use the name now that the other students were gone. "Metaphorically speakin', of course."