Love filled that room.
This simple little story found its way to the Child
William Samuel taught mostly through stories. It was a great way of teaching that worked well with me. Stories, like music, went straight to my heart.
William was giving a talk in White, Georgia, back in 1993. My husband and I were among a little group of people who had come to see him.
During the talk William told the story of an old song called “Scarlet Ribbons”. How the father hears his child ask in prayer for scarlet ribbons. Wanting to answer her prayer, the father goes out into the night to buy her some red ribbons. But it is late, the stores are closed; He finds no ribbons.
Then, sweet mystery, in the morning there are scarlet ribbons laying on the bed of the young child;
I peeked in to say goodnightWhen I heard my child in prayer
Send dear God, some scarlet ribbons, Scarlet ribbons for my hair.
All the stores were closed and shutteredAll the streets were dark and bare
In our town no scarlet ribbons Not one ribbon for her hair.
Through the night my heart was achingJust before the dawn was breaking
I peeked in and on her bedIn gay profusion laying there
I saw ribbons scarlet ribbons Scarlet ribbons for her hair.
If I live to be a hundredI will never know from where
Came those lovely scarlet ribbons Scarlet ribbons for her hair… |
Well by the end of the story the whole group was in tears. Bill truly touched our hearts. Clearly the Child had come alive in that room of well insulated, sophisticated grown-ups.
For the first time it seemed I really understood what Bill was talking about when he told me to find the Child. A memory stirred deep within me. I remembered who I was, I remembered the little girl I used to be. She was pristine, credulous, beautiful, alive, well and awaiting my return.
Then Bill talked about death, he said to look for signs and wonders after a loved one dies, look for synchronicity, look for birds or lights or butterflies. He said the tangible evidence that our loved ones are still with us will show up for us in a way we will understand.
Bill addressed one gentleman who had recently lost his wife saying that Ruby was not really gone, that Ruby was right there with the man. He said that just thinking of someone is a way to bring them to us. Life, Consciousness, Awareness, Identity, which includes Ruby, does not die. That imagination is closer to Reality than the tangible forms are.
Bill added that if we watch and listen and are open to miracles, our loved ones who pass on will contact us in special ways to let us know they are not really gone.
I didn’t know it fully at the time, but I had been transformed by that talk. Something happened deep in my soul. Something very powerful and very beautiful was awakened in me.
So impressed by what had transpired during the weekend talk, that when we returned home I wore scarlet ribbons in my hair in honor of the Child that was coming alive again.
But, here is how the story continues.
I jump now to three years later.
I was in my home which was in the Rocky Mountains. I was sitting on my living room floor sorting a box of things to throw out. The TV was on. I was listening to Regis and Kathy Lee. It was a beautiful spring day, fresh and warm. The front door was wide open.
The phone rings and it is Rachel, William’s wife. Rachel was calling to tell me that William had passed away.
I hung up the phone, adrift in emotions; sorrow, tears and love– knowing all is well, trusting what Bill had said so many times, knowing Life does not die, Awareness does not go anywhere.
When, praise God and behold –I tell you the living honest truth.– After I hung up the phone I walked back into the living room –
– and I hear, coming from the T.V. sweet and clear, Regis say;
“And now Harry Belafonte will sing that favorite song Scarlet Ribbons”
Yes, there it was. The Love comes to us in ways we can and do understand.
A miracle, pure magic, the divine synchronicity. I knew this was a sure sign, a confirmation, no doubt about it; Bill telling me he lives! There is no death!
I soaked in the moment fully. I let Mr. Belafonte gently sing “Scarlet Ribbons” to me, tears running down my face.
I knew this was William’s way of telling me honest and true that everything is alright and that I can trust and know the goodness of Life and that Love prevails.
Now, if you don’t think this is wonder enough, I cross my heart and tell you honest and true — as the song ended—.
—Glory to God — a bird walked in the front door.
A little bird walked right into the house. This little robin, it stood calmly, deliberate, with eyes sparkling, looking at me.
I swear it seemed almost human.
This bird was not in a panic being in the house, this bird was perfectly at peace and seemed assured of just what it was doing. It was about three feet away from me. It looked at me with its twinkling eyes and stayed for a few minutes, and I kept holding to that little birds eyes. We looked at each other, our eyes contacting each other. It was astounding. The whole room seemed to be glittering and sparkling.
The bird stayed just long enough to let me know that it knew very well what it was up to.
And then the little robin turned around, serenely, easily, confidently knowing exactly what it was doing, and walked out my front door. Did not fly, no, just very sweetly it walked right out the door and then reaching the edge of the porch steps it took off across the sky.
I had been given all the signs and wonders that day.
It was true, everything Bill had said and all I had come to know in my heart. There It was– Love and this tender heart of myself were entwined as Life Everlasting
So it was clear; Life has no opposite.
My Life was changed and I was free, the Child was born again.
Now, these years later, many of my dearest loves have left my life in tangible ways, but I celebrate this Living Truth of God’s Everlasting Light and Love everyday. I know Life is eternal and I know for certain Life and Love and all that we are, our soul, our self, and the beauty and Truth of the ones we love will never die.
It’s all still here, perfect and whole and right.
I have found the Child, and the Child has found Me.
You and I know it is true. You and all those you love are this Infinite Light that Lives as you and me and them. Everything is alright.
Trust and Love, you will see for yourself, you will.
I love you my Love, always and so very much
