Kallen reached out and gently pressed his hand downward, signaling for the old man to quiet down.
The old man stopped speaking and simply watched Kallen in silence.
Of course, he understood the importance of these three foundational stages in the Orthodox Church;
Divine Servant was a purification of oneself, Divine Revelation meant listening to a god's teachings, and Divine Shepherd meant inviting the god's image into one's heart, allowing the god to guide one's steps and illuminate the road ahead.
These were the most fundamental stages, but they were also extraordinarily important. One could even say that a Cleric's prospects and upper limits could already be roughly discerned at this point.
The god was like your parent, supporting you as you learned to walk and teaching you anew how to understand this world.
The changes at each stage were actually a reexamination of your past. Because your past was clearly visible, only by examining it anew could you better understand your future.
But what shocked the old man was this: the young man before him had just blasphemed against a god right in front of him, so why had he begun his "Divine Shepherd" stage a moment later?
You were doubting and abandoning the god,
so how could the god possibly remain in your heart?
Or rather,
when you were clearly already doubting and abandoning the god, how could you invite the god back in?
In fact, the answer was simple;
If Kallen's purification to become a Divine Servant had at least remained within the procedural framework, despite causing "a bit of a commotion,"
then, starting with the Divine Revelation that followed, Kallen had actually embarked on a path that belonged to him and suited him.
Divine Revelation had merely established a goal, a direction. The Divine Shepherd stage