My name is Klars. I make a living from the fruit orchard that I have. I live with my wife Sarah, my son Dreft, and my daughter Frega. I live in a small town in the nation of Surdoma. Most of the people that live here are farmers and small merchants. Though it is a small town, it is the center for the worship of the Prince.
On the southern end of the town there is a tall green hill with a deep bowl with seats delved into the top. Every spring people from all over the nation and the world come to our town to worship the Awesome Prince on the hill. I don’t know how we can have so many people in this small town, but we do. Most of the travelers bring tents and live on the edge of town. It is the best time of year for business. In the town, I set up a stand in the square with all the other farmers and sell my surplus fruit to travelers.
Last year was the most extraordinary worship experience I had ever had. It was the largest gathering I had ever seen. People from almost every nation in the world came to worship the Prince. I was surprised at the amount of people, but I was happy that my sales would be large. I worked all day and got enough money to last me for a long time. I was very happy.
When I got home that night I showed my wife the amount of money I had made. She was ecstatic and insisted on having a celebration. We had a large dinner with some of our best friends and family. It was delicious. We had sheep stew and fresh bread with real butter from one of my cows. We all left the table satisfied and happy.
The next day was the day of worship. I woke up early and dressed for the occasion. I prayed for an hour like I did every morning. I talked to the Prince of my troubles and thanked him especially for the bounty that he had given my family. Then I walked with my family towards the hill.
The Prince has no priest, but every year he singles out one man to be the worship leader. No one knew who it would be. The leader was always chosen on the day of worship. Before we went up the hill we washed our hands in basins of clear pure water and prayed for forgiveness for any offense we had committed. The hill was holy ground and we must be pure of hand and heart to worship.
We were not the first to arrive. We had gotten there early, but many people were already there preparing to worship. We sat near the end because we did not want to be noticed. No one from either of our families had ever led worship and we never expected to. We followed the Prince passively, but many other families followed him more actively. We would pray and spend time with him, but others would go to the rest of the world and spread the knowledge about him.
Finally, everybody was there. The stadium was filled to overflowing with people. In unison everyone began to sing a song of worship that would start off the ceremony of worship. As I sang I felt a little different than in years before. I felt that something important was going to happen this year. I sang with a loud voice and before long was drowning out my family’s weaker voices. Soon, the song came to a close.
Everyone fell silent. They were waiting expectantly for the worship leader to be chosen. Everyone felt that the Prince was making his choice. When a worship leader was chosen, a bird that had been set in the middle of the ring of people would fly and land on that person’s right shoulder. I kept my eyes closed in worship. Soon I heard a slight flapping of wings and felt something land on my right shoulder.
I cracked open my right eye and saw the bird sitting on my shoulder staring at me with its deep blue eyes. I knew I had been chosen. I said a quick prayer for the right words and stood up. My wife looked up at me with a proud look on her face. I walked to the aisle and walked down the stairs as everybody watched me with awe.
When I reached the bottom and stood in the grassy ring I looked around me and saw everybody that had come to worship the Prince staring expectantly at me. I felt overwhelmed. I fell to my knees and said another prayer for guidance and ability. I stood up and felt very confident. The Prince was right next to me whispering the words to say.
“Have you come to worship the Prince?” I yelled over the silence.
A small roar answered my question.
“I cannot hear the Worshippers of the King!” I called out again.
This time, a roar that shook the entire hill answered me. I knew I was ready. This was what I had been created for. I raised my voice in a song of worship and everyone soon joined in. Though the entire nation was singing, I could still hear my voice above the thousands of other voices.
After the first song finished, I fell to my knees in prayerful worship. I hear the rustling of thousands of clothes as almost everyone else did the same. I must have stayed in that position for at least an hour, but no one seemed to mind. We were all engrossed in the worship of the Prince. When I finally stood up, I had tears in my eyes. Once again I raised my voice in another song of worship. Within seconds the entire congregation joined me.
We sang until noon. At that time I felt the Prince telling me to stop. I finished the song and then made a motion for everyone to sit down. I then began a speech of thanks to the Prince for everything that he had given us that year. I told the people there that we were supposed to thank him for good and bad things. Everything in our lives had purpose. I also explained that our thanks was also worship. We had to worship the Prince year round, not only one day a year. I spoke for about two hours. When I finished, a round of deafening applause rang on the hill.
The whole time the bird had stood on my shoulder. Everyone knew that when it took flight, the service was done. It didn’t usually stay too long. Usually it left after the worship leader spoke. This time it stayed. I began another song and everyone joined in. We sang for a long time, but the bird wouldn’t leave. Finally, in the middle of a song I asked the Prince what was going on. He answered that he wanted the people to know that he was really in control. He also wanted people to know that I was going to lead worship again soon.
When that song ended, I told the people what the Prince had said. The thundering yells and applause of approval almost deafened me. Once that had died down, the bird took flight. Immediately, whispering could be heard throughout the stadium and everyone stood up and began to leave. My wife and children came down the stairs to me and hugged me.
They were proud of me. I knew it. The Prince was proud of me. I knew it. I thanked him quietly as I watched the bird slowly fly towards the sky.
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