Chuck C.

Chuck was an icon in the circles I hung around, some called him “THE GREAT WHITE FATHER.” Others called him a saint, or a spiritual guru, but at the very least, when he spoke, all ears listened attentively. Now, I was a bundle of nerves - he was giving me a chance to be his barber. I felt like I was auditioning. His hair was very close to being his trademark! It was a brilliant white and flawlessly slicked back with every hair in place leading perfectly back and down to a nice soft low taper. Wow. I was a new barber and had not yet had that kind of challenge and for first time to be with an idol of mine was overwhelming. In my mind, the slightest error would be noticeable to hundreds of people who came to hear him speak or to one of his prized slots for one-to-one consult. Oh my. I almost had a panic attack but instead, I took some slow deep breaths and asked him more questions about his hair while running my comb slowly though it and all over it trying to assess how his precious hair was previously cut.

Chuck was an older man, I am guessing in his late 60’s, or early 70’s, but it was hard to really know as he was extremely handsome, and athletic looking. He seemed to have the “Dick Clark gift” of never appearing to age. He stood tall and straight at about 6’2’” and presented as a giant of a man, yet with the softness of a lamb. He was definitely proud and confident, and when he walked into a room, his presence was commanding. I had heard him speak to very large crowds about how he had changed his life from a “tongue chewing, babbling idiot” into a stellar example of a giving, loving, caring individual of great success both personally as well as in business. He had a strong, chiseled jaw line and high cheekbones complimenting his smooth, firm, and bronzed skin often characteristic of Indian heritage, although I have no clue if he had even one ounce of Indian blood in his body.  

With my heart jumping out of my chest and hoping no one would notice, I began cutting his hair with great trepidation. I took much longer than I normally would but he decided he liked it, or at least he would give me another chance! He came every two weeks over the next six months and then announced to me he would like me to come to his home to cut his hair according to the same bi-monthly schedule. Seriously? Of course, I immediately accepted and followed that schedule for the next eight years - until one year before his death in 1984. Those visits turned into much more than haircuts and generally lasted about five hours and literally transformed my life. Each time I would cut his hair and upon satisfactory completion of the haircut in his kitchen, he would take me to his living room and command me to “sit” in one of two overstuffed chairs - one of which no one other than him ever sat in.

His moderately sized home was precariously perched high up on the side of a mountain in Laguna Hills and overlooked the Pacific Ocean. The two chairs faced the largest bay window I had ever seen and standing at the window, one could see 100 miles up and down the coastline, or least he claimed. One of the first things he said to me as we looked out the window that first day was, “see all that?” pointing to the general surroundings, “It’s all mine if I want it, but I don’t want it and so you can have it all.”  

What the heck he is talking about, I thought to myself. I thought my head would blow up and wondered what I was in for. However, in looking back I know it was the very beginning of my new life.

That is how he enjoyed teaching, sharing and making his points - by talking in parables, and what I call, riddles. That first day I had absolutely no clue what he was talking about when he said to me, “It’s all yours if you want it.” It took a while - a long while, maybe months - but it is now what I call the cornerstone of my entire belief system.

That is, if I can believe it, I can achieve it. I am a co-creator of my life. I can have, do, or be anything I want in life. I could still have that mountain side if I wanted it, but have never had the desire. I learned from Chuck that what I focus on is what I draw to me. Of course, it took years of his teachings in his unique style for me to come to understand the full scope of it all.  

In the beginning, I was still very much into blaming others for the mess of my life. Nothing was ever my fault! I was a “if only” person. “If only they could have...” and “they should have...” It was endless.  

He talked about the idea of oneness of all mankind with God and all creation. He said there is only One and that One is in all. God’s Love is my love and God’s Mind is my mind and on and on. One question that kept coming up in my mind with this new philosophy was if we are all one, and God loves us each equally, how come we aren’t all doing and thinking the same thing. So I asked him, “Why do some people do bad things? If the same benevolent God is in each of us, how can we all be so different?”         

He took me to the big bay window and pointing to a group of sail boats out on the ocean, each dependent on the wind to move them said, “See how all those sail boats are all going in different directions?” As I nodded yes, he said one of the most profound life changing statements I have ever heard. He said, “Even though they are all going in different directions, there is only one wind. Their direction is contingent on how they tend their sails.”        

“Wow.”

For the next eight years for five hours every two weeks -- 10 hours a month -- an endless stream of “Chuck-isms” flowed from his lips like a well-fed river flowing downhill. My friend, Chuck, helped me find a God of my very own and a spiritual philosophy and practice which continues to direct my life.  After several years, he finally told me what he was teaching me was from the Science of Mind teachings and he had been a friend with the founder, Ernest Holmes.  It is now 2015 and I continue to be blessed by what Chuck taught me.  I still study what he spoon-fed me so many years ago. He helped me find my purpose for continuing the journey which is, for me, to keep giving what has so freely been given to me; to help others on their journey from the darkness and into the light. I just want to give back a little of what I took from the world.

Thanks to Chuck, I still write at the top of my calendar every day, “How may I best serve God and God’s Kids today?”