Charles: Knowing and Living Jesus' Mercy
Charles' unique healing ministry transformed individuals through the Light of Christ. As a bearer of Christ's light, many who knew Charles have been healed in body, mind and spirit. His life mission gave witness to Jesus' gift of redemption through the healing ministry.
Known best for his healing ministry to cancer patients, Charles also ministered to those who suffered from other incurable diseases, mental illness, as well as spiritual oppression and darkness. There was no dark corner of human suffering that Charles did not travail. He could be found in the most compromised areas of San Francisco ministering to the homeless, to the lost, and to those with HIV. There was no lack of phenomena in Charles' ministry either; he prayed for and restored the sight of a blind woman, prayed over a clinically assessed deceased man who returned to life, and was a powerful minister of the scriptures bearing the capacity to bring God's Word alive in bold prophetic proclamations.
Charles possessed multiple extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit such as the gift of knowledge, wisdom and understanding and was deeply intuitively inclined to the unconscious mind and emotional heart of those he ministered to. He possessed the gift of counsel and healed those whose broken and wounded interior lives resulted in a fragmented psyche. He reparented those who were in need of healing of the inner child. Wit, humor, intelligence and deeply contemplative, Charles was known for his no-nonsense approach to ministry and could discern the most subtle delusions or hidden evil. When Charles spoke, people listened.
Most of all, Charles was one who shared a deep union with God. He lived and moved in God's will in the most profound and also, ordinary ways. He was a lover of people and upon meeting Charles one would become aware of the deep Presence which defined his reality and often, one would be blessed by the invitation to share in that sacred space. It would be common to catch Charles in a contemplative state of reverie either in moments of silence or while in his rose garden. It was as if he was in a constant state of listening to voice that was unheard by others. He sought the liberation of others and welcomed those who suffered to experience the healing love of God through the powerful redemptive mercy of Jesus Christ.
He has left those whom he has healed with a great gift of life and existential hope through a tangible encounter with the Kingdom of God. His work continues through others in the seeds he has sown and cultivated in his unique ministry of relational healing. There are few who inspire and heal on the level of interconnection with the human family in the manner which Charles exemplified. Due to his contemplative stance, relationally Charles brought forward the Sacred Presence in the encounters between people. Charles was in touch with the ontological reality of each persons' union with God. But due to the human condition, most struggle to experience this reality as personal and life giving. Charles' union with God made the words of Jesus clear as found in his prayer, "that they all may be one" John 17:21. This oneness experienced through human encounter brought forth the life giving presence of the Holy Spirit.
Although many ministers set out to model this biblical injunction, few actually arrive at the ideal. Passing trends in the church, lack of inner healing, integration and wholeness among the members of the Body of Christ often limit Christians to achieving union with Jesus in his suffering, death and resurrection as St. Paul says, "it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives within me" Galatians 2.20. By entering into the transpersonal depths of Christ's death and resurrection, Charles' unity with Christ equipped him to live the Gospel message in the manner which Christ prayed. The Church and its capacity to transform lives has not yet been fully realized without understanding and welcoming the work of the Holy Spirit in the depths of the transformation of the inner person.
Charles possessed the capacity to live the scripture in a profoundly literal, and existential manner. The words of Jesus never seemed modified or read for contextual content alone, nor was the scripture over simplified or read at face value--for Charles, the scripture was a sacrament and the living presence of God was encountered in the divine logos that awakened the slumbered heart and the human conscious dulled by the burdens of life.
Along with his wife Jean, one knew what it meant to be church, family, and to be received in the arms of God. Together they ministered and breathed life into hearts of many gripped by spiritual death and loss of hope or life due to illness or disease. As visionaries, prophets, and proclaimers of God's word, Charles and Jean have revolutionized the Church in intra-denominational ministry. Furthermore, as a mystic, Charles had a deep respect for all traditions especially for those that led one to deeper levels of transformation of the consciousness.
While Charles was deeply grounded in Christ, his spirit soared to boundaryless realms. It is well suited that Charles has transitioned to the place without the limitations of earthly boundaries. But for those who are still living within the construct of nature and its rules, we are attuning our hearts to capture Charles' presence in the silent spaces of unitive love.
May his memory be Eternal!
