Soulfool

Soulfool

Helen waited patiently for her name to be called. When she’d checked in at the desk, they’d said it would only be a wait of about 10 minutes, and it was approaching that quickly. “Helen Burns,” a voice announced loudly and distinctly. She stood and looked, scanning the general area from which the voice seemed to emanate—and spotted a pleasant looking little orange-haired lady. As she neared the woman, she saw a somewhat blurry nametag with large, bold letters spelling out GLADYS. “Hi, Helen, right this way,” she said, leading the way and then indicating a chair and asking Helen to be seated.  As she sat, Helen found herself thinking, “Hmm, I wonder what I did with my glasses?  Good thing the print on that nametag was large and bold enough for me to read.” "I know what you're thinking," said GLADYS, "and there's a very good reason why my name is so big and bold.  We have quite a lot of people who, due to......well.....circumstances, arrive here minus their glasses or contacts, and we want them to be able to read our names, to make them feel more comfortable." 

In fact, that was not all she was curious about.  Not only had she managed to somehow lose her glasses, but she also had no idea how she’d gotten here, and, quite frankly, didn’t even understand where “here” was exactly.  Although it seemed somewhat familiar in a vague, déjà vu sort of way, it was still perplexing.  She began blurting questions at GLADYS, but GLADYS simply smiled and said, “Now calm down, honey.  Your questions will be answered soon enough.  For now, we need to get you registered properly so you can be channeled to the appropriate line for processing for the next leg of your journey.”

With that, GLADYS proceeded to ask her all manner of identification type questions—full name, home address, phone number, next of kin—and then things began to get weird.  The questions took a decidedly odd direction toward, of all things, religious inclinations and attitudes.  What was her childhood religious background, if any?  With what denomination was she presently affiliated?  Did she attend church regularly?  What did she consider normal human sexuality to be?  What were her views on sin and any punishment mandated by them?  Did she read the bible?  Did she take it as truth?  The list of questions went on and on.

She was becoming more and more mystified with the questions being asked, but felt oddly compelled to answer them, truthfully and thoroughly.  Helen did not normally discuss such things with anyone, especially not total strangers.  She viewed such deeply held feelings and thoughts as very personal and not for general sharing with people one did not know quite well.  But for some reason it seemed appropriate to do so now, even with GLADYS.

Of course, while she didn’t generally view such things as fodder for everyday conversation, her thoughts and feelings played out in her normal activities, so to learn the answers to these questions, all one had to do is observe Helen in her daily activities.  Her viewpoints were quite obviously demonstrated in her actions and interactions and also by virtue of the groups with which she associated regularly, performing volunteer activities or just passing leisure time.

Whether she was at her church, sitting in a meeting of a local social activism group, or volunteering at the city's homeless shelter, Helen was an uncommonly good person with a loving, generous spirit.  And she didn’t confine the benefits of such a spirit to only particular groups.  It was apparent in everything she did and to everyone  with whom she came into contact.  Helen had, through personal introspection and hard work, evolved to the point where the face she showed, she showed to all, with no adjustments made based on anyone’s circumstance, appearance, or behavior.  Her giving spirit was evident in every single answer to every single question asked of her that day in that place.

This place where Helen currently found herself, seemed very chaotic, which left her with an unsettling feeling.  And the man being checked in next to where she sat, had been talking quite loudly.  He chose this moment to segue into a booming tirade on the evils of homosexuality, spouting admonishments of fire and brimstone to rain down on the heads of anyone practicing such abhorrent acts.  It was distracting to say the least.

As Helen took in more details of this place, she noticed that people were being funneled to four separate lines.  The signs over each seemed self-explanatory and three of the lines appeared orderly, their occupants content and moving on easily and willingly, but most of the people headed to the line on the far right were receiving injections of some sort enroute.  Most of them attempted to protest the need for the injection.  But generally, as they read the sign under which they would stand, they would begin their querulous rants, only to find that the injection had already been administered, despite their protests.  Shortly thereafter, they each took on a somewhat vacant, far-off and dreamy look, and were quietly shuffled into line to move onward to the next phase of their journey.  Helen noted that the loud man who was being processed next to her had been led to that line at the far right.

As Helen contemplated what this place might be, she carefully read the signs over each snaking line of people.  On the far left was Fulfilled Spirits, to the immediate right of it was Evolving Spirits, next to that was the line designated Novice Souls,  and finally, on the far right was the line titled Soulfools.  She quietly contemplated where the other three lines of people might be heading as she was escorted to join the rest of the Fulfilled Spirits.