A CONVERSATION AT WOODSONG By William Samuel

“William, you say I'm to find the Child within myself. How do I actually do that beyond dreaming about it?”

First—and absolutely essential to the process—we affirm the Child's existence and presence. Like God, the Child doesn't seem present to the old nature's eye; there are no intellectual proofs immediately at hand. We accept its existence and presence on faith just as we accept the presence of God on faith. Before long, the Child will stir within and prove it is very much alive and present.

“What will I feel?”

Oh, goodness, Mary. The Child within is actually the child we were, still here, a child. It laughs for us, it sings in our heart, it remembers. It is interested. It is curious, thoughtful, full of love, excited sometimes, just as we felt as a child.

These very feelings begin to return inside us. In small ways at first, like remembering how the freshly cut grass smelled when we were children. It may be the sound of frosty ground crunching under our feet. We hear it and remember hearing it that way on our way to school. We hear those sounds again just as we did as children. We feel certain feelings again, some of them most remarkable.

But, listen, listen: this time—now that you have been here to hear these strange words—we will know it is the Child within—and that knowing is essential. Identity is hoving back into view! This time we know it is the Original Child coming back to consciousness, stirring and renewing itself. This time we know it is the real of us coming again to re-prove the nature of Reality. It is coming to enliven us and we are glad.

“That sounds wonderful, William. What do I do first?”

Mary, we just said. We affirm the Child's presence within us. We admit wholly, fully, faithfully that the Child still lives right here, right now where we are. We determine to let it up and out, to bring it forth from the stultifying sophistication and guilt of adulthood and time. You see, the Child of God IS here—our real Identity, our Original Identity. It is that part of us that will survive when the finite body falls away. It is the soul of us that existed before this tangible body came into being. Before Abraham was, the Child of God is. We are IT.

“This child is still in us, you say. Is this the soul that religion speaks of?”

Yes! Precisely that. And isn't it wonderful to finally know what that mysterious and nebulous concept is all about? To know what it is and where it is and how it is felt and that it lives in such a tender and wonderful manner? And especially, that it is still filled with enthusiasm and joy? And that its re-discovery brings renewal right here in the world?

“This certainly puts the notion of the immortal soul in another light, doesn't it? (thoughtful pause) It clarifies the doctrinal and theological statement, doesn't it?”

Yes. But much more, Mary. We are finally doing what we are supposed to be doing. “Lest ye become as children you will in no wise enter the kingdom of heaven.” And remember another statement as well, “...a child shall lead them.”

“If the Child comes alive again, as you say, what does that do for me here in the flesh?”

So many things I can't count them all. A twinkle in the eye comes back. Fear falls away. We aren't so concerned about time, the body and its affairs. We know the Child is us. We trust the Child to lead us straight to a knowledge of truth. As a matter of fact, the Child is the God of us.

“The Child is God?”

No, the other way around. God is being the Child. The Child within is the perfect Image of the Ineffable, the first identity made in the image of God as the Bible relates. It lives and moves and has Its being in God. It has never been sick. It has never suffered nor made a mistake. It isn't vaunted up nor bowed down. It isn't guilty. It is not bound by temporality or space, and It understands what time and space are all about.

“The bubbling I feel inside at this minute is my real identity?”

Yes!

“What about this awareness right here, as I look at you and listen to you?”

This Awareness is the Light of life and belongs to God. Awareness is the Child I am. Awareness becomes US as we have a change of heart, let go the old man and return to the Child within. This present awareness becomes sharper and clearer because it has things to do in the world. It bubbles a lot more, Mary.

“Well, for goodness sake, I don't know what to make of this. . .”

You don't know what?

“It sounds so good—and feels wonderful—but I don't know...”

The doubts and distrust don't belong to the Child, Mary, but to the illegitimate old bastard of us. What do you have to lose? Must I argue for what I've found, when, in your inner disquiet, you asked to come here to see what I have found? Why do you doubt me? Doubting, distrusting and forgetting the Child Identity has backed us against the wall, struggling in the world, bowed down with grief, depression, fear, guilt and age. All the while, the Child is in here, waiting to get up again. The Child leads us in the time and space world to this one or that one—and the Child within has brought you and me together just hear these words. Why doubt that? Did you come here looking for things to approve or disapprove first? Are you sampling wines until you find one you like?

“I'm here out of curiosity, William, to see if you are genuine.”

Mary, you have found more than that. You have found the keys to the Kingdom and to your very life, provided you can bring yourself to believe what you are hearing, put the words to the test and go where the Child of yourself leads.

“William, on the one hand it sounds so easy—maybe too much like the things I've heard in church. They use other words, of course. Soul instead of Child. And that's the rub here, I think. I don't like things theological or religious. At the root, yours is a new theology or a restatement of old theology—I don't know quite which. What happened to all that absolute metaphysics you wrote for so many years?”

Nothing has happened to it, Mary. The subjective message is entirely intact. It was and is correct as far as subjectivism goes, but metaphysics is only a part of the Grand Mystery. One eventually breaks through subjectivism and its metaphysics into the green field of simplicity again, finally knowing what the complexity was for and about. The bottom line of it all is this magnificent Simplicity of Identity we are talking about this morning here under the Alabama pines. The Child has dominion. The Child is the place of exchange—within and without, above and below. First and last, male and female, tangible and intangible. The Child leads us consciously to all Truth; we find the Child within ourselves. This is no new theology. This is not a new religious view or new doctrine. It is the secret Fact that doesn't miss the mark as religion and metaphysics have missed it.

“I am baffled, William. I just don't know.”

Well, think about it, Mary. You've heard it straight and true. The Child is you. It is up to you, yourself and God.

Excerpt from "The Child Within Us Lives! A Synthesis of Science, Religion and Metaphysics" By William Samuel

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If you would like further guidance in understanding any of William Samuel's work based on Self discovery - you are welcome to contact me, Sandy Jones -- samuelandfriends@gmail.com - Ojai, California -