The Path is one child wide

William Samuel was the humblest man I had ever met. My journey in Awareness began when I was thirteen years old, with his book 2 + 2 = Reality, a small yet insightful work which profoundly influenced my life. He was a renowned spiritual master of metaphysics who devoted his life to the search for Truth. Through his writing and speaking engagements he passed along his understanding of life with great presence and skill.

            In the years that followed, I read more of his books and decided to write him a letter. That led to more correspondence, and later, phone conversations about issues that I needed help with. I remember having such deep conversations with Bill that I had forgotten why I had called him in the first place. Finally, in 1994, I made a visit to my dear teacher’s home in Alabama where we would spend the weekend talking about life. During our discussion, he shared something with me that has stayed with me ever since.

            “Lou, I don’t say very much anymore because no matter how well I state the truth, someone who doesn’t want to hear it can use my exact words to prove me wrong!” I asked him to elaborate. He thought for a moment, then replied “I can’t tell you what love is, though I’ve written about it…. but I know it when I see it.”

            Then he confided in me that he thought his time on this planet was coming to an end. He felt that he had completed his work, and it was time for him to go. With a lump in my throat, I asked him what he thought would happen when we passed on. “I feel my dad,” he said. “I have his photo on my desk, and all I can tell you is that the path is one child wide.” Then he added, “when it’s time for me to go, I will follow that path and see where it leads me.” I left that visit pondering his words. Three months later, I received news that Bill Samuel had passed away.

            Shortly after returning to my home in Colorado, a potential patient came to see me. Jim hoped that I might be able to help him with his cancer diagnosis through nutritional changes and enzyme therapy. Our meeting evolved into a spiritual conversation about life, and afterwards I left him with a copy of 2 + 2 = Reality. Though he never became a patient, we did become friends, and we often met for coffee to discuss life.

            Sometimes life pulls people in different directions, and so Jim and I had not spoken for about six months when I received a call from a mutual friend. She informed me that Jim was in the hospital dying of cancer. She suggested I visit him, and of course, I agreed.

            I arrived at the hospital and met Jim’s wife. She led me to Jim’s room, where we sat by his bedside. Jim was unable to speak but acknowledged my words with an occasional nod. After three hours, I knew it was time for me to go. Before leaving, I told Jim “If you want me to come back, I will.” 

            Two weeks later, I visited another friend who taught a class on Spirituality. When I entered her home, she was sitting in a chair with a puzzled look on her face. I gently asked her what was troubling her. She replied, “the chaplain of the hospital just left, He asked me if I would pray for this man who is dying of cancer.” She also said that when she went into prayer and meditation, she saw in her mind’s eye, the vision of a man sitting by a window saying the words “He said he would come back.” Her words immediately made me recall my visit with Jim and I referenced him by his full name. She replied, “Yes, that’s him!”  I felt a chill down my spine, and I knew at that moment that I needed to return to the hospital immediately.

            When I arrived, I passed by a courtyard on the way to Jim’s room. There I found his wife and a few friends sitting at a table; taking a break from keeping vigil at Jim’s bedside. “How is Jim doing?;” I asked his wife. “He went into a complete coma after you left two weeks ago,” and then added, “I don’t know why he is still hanging on.”

            I looked at her and said, “I don’t know why I am here, but I believe your husband is ready to make his transition,” I replied, looking into her eyes. She gestured for me and her two friends to join her in Jim’s room. She said “Jim loves lullabies. Can we all sing to him?” So, we stood around his bedside, singing as he lay there in a coma. As we sang, I felt a sensation as if Jim’s spirit was trying to leave his body. Years earlier, I had experienced something similar with the passing of my dad and feeling his spirit leaving upon his death. But the feeling was suddenly interrupted when a nurse entered the room to administer pain medication. With the experience now disrupted, Jim’s wife asked me if she and I could speak privately for a few minutes. After her friends left the room, she said, “Let me tell you about Jim’s life.”

            When Jim was 18 months old, his mother had disappeared. He believed that she left him because he had been a burden to her as a baby. But, at age thirty-five, he learned that his mother had been raped and murdered by her own uncle. Years later, when Jim was diagnosed with cancer, still conscious and hopeful for recovery, he told his wife that if he were ever to be healed of cancer, “I would need to be healed of this wounded child first.” 

            Upon hearing this, I immediately felt so much compassion for Jim that I walked over to him and put my right hand on his heart. Then I put my left hand on his forehead and closed my eyes. In my mind’s eye I saw him as this beautiful child. Looking away from the child to the foot of the bed, I had a vision of a woman, who I immediately perceived was his mother. Her arms were reaching out in front of her. I opened my eyes and spoke softly to him. “Jim, you are a beautiful child, and you have done nothing wrong. Your mother is here to take you home.” Jim opened his beautiful blue eyes and looked at me as he took his last breath.

            The air in the room changed as if the sickening odor of death was replaced by the sweet smell of spring flowers. I closed my eyes again, and I experienced a vision of Jim as an embryo in his mother’s womb. The embryo swirled into a ball of light travelling upwards through some form of tunnel that appeared before me. I then recalled the words of William Samuel, “The path is one child wide.” In that moment I felt a chill. Then a deep feeling of gratitude began to grow within me.

 I had experienced something that began to make sense of an idea that I had been striving to comprehend much of my life. It is a concept that Bill Samuel introduced to me and was nurtured by the writings of other spiritual leaders. It is the idea that we enter this world as a divine child, a pure being of God’s Light of love, and then we one day leave it as the same beautiful child. Between those moments, we live the expression of our genetic tendencies and the programming of our upbringing. We experience the joy of human existence. But we also endure life’s struggles, and these affect our health and wellness in physical, mental, and emotional ways.

I have devoted much of my time studying science, which is the principle behind the functioning of the body and all of life’s expressions. I have spent years holistically tending to the needs of my patients as a Chiropractic Physician and Internal Health Specialist. But I have also learned that as we take the journey of life, the Divine Child, that part of us, is still very much alive within us. My wish is to share with you my journey to explore those obstacles that obscure the pure channel of the light of God’s mind that has created us. I hope to inspire you to discover the Child Light that goes back to the source of all that is. Thank you for allowing me to share this story. May the child within you stir and smile and give you the insights that you need this very day.

drlouisdepalma@gmail.com

drlouisdepalma.com