Posted by on Mar 4, 2018 in Sandy's Blog | Comments Off on Scarlet Ribbons

“Scarlet Ribbons”  is an excerpt from my book “Barefoot at Heart -The Alchemy of Love and the Power of Light”  –  

William Samuel had a gift for teaching through stories. His method 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 of Love, in the morning there are scarlet ribbons laying on the bed of the young child.

Well, by the end of the story the whole group was in tears. Bill had touched a tender spot in us and the heart of the Child had been unloosened by that story.

Something stirred deep within me, and for just a moment I remembered the little girl I used to be. She was pristine, credulous, bubbling with laughter, beautiful, alive, full of herself and she was 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 and know it is their spirit speaking to us through signs.

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 if we are open to the mystery, 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 that weekend. Something happened deep in my soul. Something very powerful and very beautiful was awakened in me.

At the end of the talks, to my joy and surprise, William asked me to come up front and sit with him “to help answer questions,” he said. I did the best I could. I was honored and felt that Bill trusted me.

So impressed by what had transpired during the weekend talk that when we returned home I wore scarlet ribbons in my hair, as the joy of my heart’s fearless beauty was coming alive again.

…But, here is how the story continues…

I jump now to three years later.

I was in my home, 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 rang and it was Rachel, William’s wife. Rachel was calling to tell me that William had passed away. I knew he’d been in hospital, so this was not completely unexpected.

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, Life is Identity and Identity does not go anywhere.

When …
I tell you the living honest truth…

After I hung up the phone, I walked back into the living room…

And I heard, coming from the TV, sweet and clear, Regis Philbin announce…
“Now, Harry Belafonte will sing that favorite song, Scarlet Ribbons.”

Yes, there it was, the signs and wonders, the miracle, pure magic, the divine synchronicity. The Love comes to us in ways we will understand.

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 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.

This little bird walked right into the house. A robin, it stood calmly, deliberate, with eyes sparkling, looking at me.

This bird was perfectly at peace and seemed assured of just what it was doing. It was about three feet away and it looked at me with its twinkling eyes and stayed for a few minutes. I kept holding to that little bird’s gaze. We looked at each other, our eyes contacting each other. It was astounding. The whole room seemed to be glittering and sparkling in light.

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, was true. There It was, love and this tender heart of myself were entwined as Life Everlasting.

So it was clear. Life has no opposite. There is no death.

Now, these years later, many of my dearest loves have left my life in tangible ways, but I feel the riches of this Living Truth of God’s Everlasting Light and Love every day. My heart knows it’s true.

Life is eternal and I am certain Life and Love and all that we are, our soul, ourself, 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.

In our heart, we know who we are. Spirit and matter are one. You and all those you love are this Child, the soul, the one Light that lives – it lives, as you and me and them. Everything is alright.