I was at church when call cards of a telecounseling service were distributed. Inside a cab, I saw a poster carrying the same hotline number. What a blessing to be in a dilemma and invited access to such a free service!
Apparently, I called the hotline. A woman I judged from her voice to be older than I was, answered the phone. As we conversed, I noticed she was leading me back to myself. It was opposite to my expectation that she would tell me what it was that I had to do. Like one of Oprah’s studio guests who talked about mirroring I saw years after, the lady acknowledged my feelings. On the phone, it was like talking aloud to myself as I tried to clear the cobwebs in my mind. As I let her trod with me, I felt like I had an invisible guide, shedding light to one path after another. It was clearer to see where each turn would lead to. I thanked the counselor profusely before I hung up.
When I dialed the hotline number again, a lad answered the phone. I was rather disappointed to hear him admit meeting and making out with his counselee; although, I was in fact the one who talked him into admitting it. I questioned the legitimacy of their service and the qualifications of people providing it, forgetting my first near-perfect encounter with a counselor. What did I expect out of volunteer work?
Counselors were humans too who struggled, get tempted or committed mistakes.
