Journey of a Soul

Chapter 5

Nestled in bed, Reverend Edward Julien Hawthorne, slept with the blankets covering everything up but his nose. The light appeared faintly through the darkened early morning clouds as he awoke abruptly from the loud and rapid pounding on his front doors.

Throwing the covers aside and quickly putting his arms through the sleeves of his housecoat. He hurried downstairs towards the entrance. "Yes, yes, I am coming!" he hollered, trying to lessen the noise as he got closer.

The funeral home stood on a hill, silhouetted against an October gray and sodden sky. This had also been his home for all his thirty-eight years. His father and his grandfather before him had lived and worked here in the family business as morticians.

Banging at the big wooden doors of the building, which will hold Susannah's service, Lexi yelled, "Reverend Hawthorne, you must let me in." Lexi had never been to the Funeral Home, before today. She had driven by the cemetery over the years and heard about it from her dad when he was alive, but it was much more impressive in real life.

She was looking at a large two-story building with a chapel attached to the left side of it; it even had a steeple, topped with a spire. The chapel looked like it could hold a couple of hundred people.

The surrounding funeral home grounds were more like a park than a cemetery, with thousands of trees and many ponds throughout the rolling hills. Located throughout the grounds, you could see several famous monuments, mausoleums, and wooden shelters.

Lexi was impressed with the craftsmanship of the buildings. The three she loved best was one resembling an Italian villa, a gothic revival style, and another resembling a Swiss chalet. She was enchanted with the magnificently detailed headstones, crypts, and sculptures.

There was one sculpture in particular that caught her eye. It was an impressive larger than life, a hand-carved marble statue of Saint Michael the Archangel. His outspread wings made his form seem massive. He held in one hand a sword, which was drawn, and in the other, he held scales. She could see that he had captured a demon whom he was standing over with one foot, keeping it at bay.

An epiphany came to her as she stared at the statue. She just realized what the scales represented. Virtue and sin. In this case, the scales revealed the deadly fate of the demon's destiny.

Even though Reverend Hawthorne was in great shape, he almost fell on his derriere as Lexi pushed her way through the now unlocked front entrance. Regaining his balance, he looked at his watch to read what time it was. 6:00 am. "There better be a good reason, Alexandra, why you have woken me up so early."

Barely noticing Reverend Hawthorne, with his dark hair, blue eyes, and height of six-foot-four inches, Lexi blurted out, "The service cannot proceed as planned. Something is wrong."

Gesturing for Lexi to follow him in, Edward turned around. He walked into a rather large and finely decorated office just to the right. His father and grandfather had used the same room to meet with clients before preparing their loved ones for a viewing or memorial.

Not following in their footsteps by preparing the deceased for burial, Edward went to seminary school instead and became an ordained minister. He loved the peace of mind that he could create for a person who had lost a loved one. His gift was to speak profound, insightful, reflective, and divine words.

"Reverend, I know this is going to sound crazy. But my sister Susannah is in serious trouble," Lexi said, with as much poise and control as she could muster through her anguish. "The dream I had the night Susannah died was more than your typical dream, it was a traumatic nightmare. Susannah is lost, confused, and being tormented in the afterlife. No, it wasn't a dream at all, it was a cry for help from Susannah. Reverend, she urgently needs help before her body is put into the ground for eternity."

Even though he was only a few years older than Alexandra, he took an insightful breath and prayed up to God for the words and wisdom needed at this moment. "Alexandra, we cannot cancel the funeral. Your mother has gone to so much trouble. I do not think what you are asking is reasonable. Think about how your mother would feel. I'm sure you are just stressed with your sister's passing. It was a terrible accident and you two were so close."

Frustrated, Lexi started to pace back and forth in his office. "You don't understand. She is not in Heaven!" Lexi shouted.

Reverend Hawthorne felt sorry for Alexandra. He knew all deaths were traumatic on some level for the loved ones left on Earth. Each person goes through a series of emotions, usually uncontrollable. The Five Stages of Grief, they call it in seminary school; denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. He was not sure where Alexandra's outburst fell into the mix.

"Reverend, what happens to a soul that does not go to Heaven?" Lexi asked as she sat down in one of the two big wing-backed chairs that were placed on the opposite side of the Reverend's impressive dark cherry-stained desk.

"It is very uncommon that a soul does not get to enter into Heaven. Alexandra, you must understand, for that to happen, the person couldn't have had any belief system whatsoever of an afterlife. No belief in God, Buddha, Allah or any other spiritual name. No belief in any religion of any kind. No belief in Angels, Jesus, or Saints." Reverend Hawthorne said, not knowing for sure what really happens to a soul who doesn't make it into Heaven.

"I know you think I am just being emotional. That I am stressed about losing my sister. But I know deep in my heart that Susannah is in trouble, and I need to help her." Saying this out loud, Lexi knew without a doubt that her sister was in trouble. "Let's say that Susannah didn't have any belief system before she died, that she was an atheist. If she is lost, how can I help my sister?"

"Lexi, this is not an easy task. You cannot just believe for her and poof she is in Heaven. It doesn't work like that. I pray that you are just having an emotional moment and that you really do not believe that your sister didn't make it into Heaven. If you still feel this way after the funeral, we can meet next week and I will help you deal with these emotions." Reverend Hawthorne promised.

Standing up, he showed her to the front door. "See you tomorrow, Alexandra. Try to get some rest, and sleep as much as possible. The worst of it will be over soon. Time heals."