At the time of our interview, Dalee had been sick with AIDS-related problems—specifically a persistent cough lasting some months, which had started as a cold. It had sapped his energy, this deep cough, of which the doctors couldn’t find the source. He was put onto a regimen of an antibiotic, Zithromax, as well as an asthma inhalant to open up his breathing passage.
But between bouts of heavy coughing, he gave of himself in ways that illuminated his own soul as well as trying to explain Christopher Showerman’s involvement in his life. And the most exciting part of the process was hearing of a documentary that has been made on his life, HIV: He Is Victorious, the work of German filmmaker Mia Lynn Hanna. “We’ve been filming it for two years and have about 500 hours worth of tape, which she is editing down now to a manageable size. It’s a full-on documentary—I hope it affects the world. Chris will be in it, too. It’s about God and love and spirit and miracles; happiness, wellness and being. One of our messages is for the world to stop praying for the miracle, but recognize [instead] the miracle at hand.”
From being bed-ridden four years ago, when Showerman first met him, Henderson has now landed on his feet, active as a top-notch and well-paid hair stylist. “My virus has been undetectable for four years in a row and my T-cells have gone from 9 to 419! I feel brilliant. Dying from AIDS is not an option for me. I live my life in divine wellness. I claim wellness in my spirit and life—with the energy I surround myself with, as well the people that I surround myself with.”
For Dalee Henderson, Christopher Showerman has become a shining example of what people should be like all the time. “Chris is one of the most godlike beings I have ever met. [He] is someone I have to have in my life.” It was Showerman’s professional laying-on-of-hands that made him so sure of the actors’ strengths. “He is so pure of spirit, so welcoming as a human being, and so healing. I thought he had to have been a Godsend and I told him then that he was a shaman, a healer, whether he knew it or not.”
Dalee confides a fact of his life that might automatically bring suspicion from outsiders that his spirituality is somewhat on the outré side. “I’ve experienced angel visitations since I was a baby and during that encounter [with] Chris, I knew that he was a special being. From that moment on, he came into my life with a pure, no-holds-barred, love. I think this must be what God had in mind when he created man. Chris gives of himself without fear. He checks on me every day, on the phone or in person. He buys me little treats to make sure my day is gong well.” At this juncture in our conversation, Dalee begins to cry. “He makes others want to be greater than they are. I know this. I’ve told him that our journeys are rarely about us: our dilemmas in life, our situations – they’re to help others to seek their humanity. In my state, I’ve watched this man rise to the occasion, to a level of greatness. Whenever I’m feeling low—which is not often—I call his home to connect spiritually with his voice on the machine, and it gives me strengths. At the end of this life, I think what will be judged will be our effort in life. One gets involved and puts in the work and the effort. Chris does the work. He walks the walk and talks the talk. He is a divine spirit. One of the gifts that God has given me in this life, to help me through this journey, is Christopher Showerman. He is one of the most honorable human beings I know. He walks in life.”
Dale Reynolds interviewed Christopher Showerman for the January issue.
Photo by Tim Courtney
