Human Mind in a Storm of Thought

By John Wesley Anderson

Human Mind in a Storm of Thought was born from a host of essays, sermons, short stories and personal experiences that spanned over 40 years. The Storm of thought reflected in the title is the mental journey I took, which at times was as turbulent as a mid-summer thunderstorm and at others as peaceful as a flake of snow falling in early winter. Mr. Raggs (a recurring character in this book) is the personification of the many tough life lessons I learned when I was at my lowest both financially and spiritually.
There will be those who will find this book inspiring and at times painful as the light of my self-examination penetrate the shadowy realms of their own inner fears and complacency. The reader will soon experience for themselves the positive inner change, which is almost always followed by a positive outward one.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 22, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483641768

Book preview

Copyright © 2013 by J. W. Anderson, Jr.

ISBN:      Softcover      978-1-4836-4175-1

                Ebook           978-1-4836-4176-8

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Rev. date: 07/22/2014

Xlibris Corporation

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CONTENTS

Preface

1 The Looking Glass

2 A Journey Into Midnight

3 Observations

4 The Night Uncle Samuel Died

5 The Morning My Mother Died

6 More Than Conquerors

7 Sage Say

8 Autumn In The Park

9 My Father’s Workshop

10 Mother, Mother, What Do You See?

11 True Salvation Or Incomplete Cultivation

12 Discourse

13 Ambition

14 Why Are We Here?

Tiger, tiger, burning bright

In the forest of the night,

What immortal hand or eye

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

. . . . When the stars threw down their spears,

And water’d heaven with their tears,

Did He smile His work to see?

Did He who made the lamb make thee?

William Blake (1757-1827)

The twilight Siberian sky erupted into a terrible snowstorm. The powerful winds howled through the forest like a wailing banshee in search of peace. The sound of splitting timber echoed across the horizon as wind gusts exceeding 85 mph tore throughout the land. Predator and prey alike struggled to survive in the blistering cold.

As twilight faded into darkness, a lone figure stood defiantly in the midst of the boisterous winds—her head held high, searching with satanic expectations of a life to steal and a hunger to satisfy.

The winds brought the smell of flesh and the anxieties of survival to the hungry tiger. Its piercing blue eyes narrowed when she focused on a lamb struggling to stand against the chilly winds of adversity, separated from its herd: all alone!

The lamb, lost in its own struggles, failed to see the harbinger of death slowly approaching. The lamb’s mouth was covered with white froth—a clear sign of its distress and confusion. The lamb cried out for a member of the herd to come and lead it home, but the angry wind was its only reply.

The tiger stalked in the barren forest, cautiously making sure there was no one to come to the lamb’s aid. To its delight, all she could see was the powdery fine snow swirl in the expanse of white nothingness. Her heart began to pound with the rhythm of the hunt, saliva secreted canines in preparation for tearing living flesh. A deep rumble inside the massive beast erupted into a bloodcurdling roar that seemed to halt the prevailing winds.

The lamb took flight with reflexes born of instinct and necessity, away from the sound of thunder who was its pursuer.

The tiger’s eyes focused on the pulse throbbing in the neck of its prey; which beckoned for a violent invasion. The smell of the lamb’s sweat and distress drove the tiger wild with hunger and anticipation. It leaped in a moment of desire, taking the lamb by the neck. The tiger savored the feel of its frightened prey’s blood pulsating on the edge of its canines. The tongue of death gently caressed the neck of its helpless prey… and in a moment, crushed the life from it. The tiger gurgled as her throat filled with the warm blood of its victim.

A hunger momentarily satisfied.

This short story is a metaphor of a relationship I had with a woman I met when I was in China. She was the tiger, I was the lamb, and my money was the life’s blood she took from me!

This book is lovingly dedicated to the memory

of my beloved sister

Valerie Denise Anderson

The only way to grasp a goal is to reach for it.

J. W. Anderson Jr. (1980)

PREFACE

Human Mind in a Storm of Thought was born from a host of essays, sermons, short stories, and personal experiences that spanned over forty years. The storm of thought reflected in the title is the mental journey I took, which at times was as turbulent as a midsummer thunderstorm and at others as peaceful as a flake of snow falling in early winter. Mr. Raggs (a recurring character in this book) is the personification of the many tough life lessons I learned when I was at my lowest, both financially and spiritually.

There will be those who will find this book inspiring and, at times, painful as the light of my self-examination penetrates the shadowy realms of their own inner fears and complacency. The readers will soon experience for themselves the positive inner change, which is almost always followed by a positive outward one.

I’m confident that everyone who reads Human Mind in a Storm of Thought will not be content to read it just once and set it aside to be forgotten—but like any fine wine, it must be tasted and then savored to enhance its full effect.

Now the time has come for you to experience the storm for yourself.

J. W. Anderson Jr.

CHAPTER 1

The Looking Glass

As I peered into the looking glass, what was reflected back at me? A world trapped by the fear of loneliness and the darkness of spiritual poverty.

As I reached up to touch the face in the looking glass, what was reflected back at me? Eyes