The Stories

By Frederick Douglas Harper

The Stories is a book about the “stories in my life,” rather than the story of my life. This book includes stories of the author as a youth growing up in the South under Jim Crow’s racial segregation, stories about his roles as a pioneer and leader of civil rights, and stories about spiritual events and spiritual encounters. There are also stories from his times as a school and college student, public school teacher, university professor for 42 years, professional counselor, professional consultant, parent, child, and friend. There is a total of 54 amazing stories that have spiritual implications and reflect intriguing social and psychological dynamics.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Feb 24, 2020
• ISBN: 9781796089431

Frederick Douglas Harper

A full-time writer and speaker, Dr. Frederick Douglas Harper retired as professor of counseling in 2012 after 42 years of teaching at Howard University. He has authored 14 poetry books, one major novel (The Durabone Prophecies), textbooks, and articles. Harper has served as Editor-in-Chief of three different scholarly journals. Also, he has presented speeches and conference papers throughout the United States and in other countries—including Argentina, France, Greece, India, Ireland, Sweden, and the Netherlands. Since 1985, Harper has published more than 1,300 poems on topics such as social justice, peace, love, spirituality, human behavior, children, nature’s beauty, climate change, and human destiny. Most of his poems and creative prose are educational and therapeutic. A devoted jogger, Harper has jogged more than 42,000 miles. He is the proud father of two sons and proud grandfather of four grandchildren.

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Copyright © 2020 by Frederick Douglas Harper.

Library of Congress Control Number:        2020903440

ISBN:                    Hardcover                           978-1-7960-8942-4

                              Softcover                             978-1-7960-8944-8

                               eBook                                  978-1-7960-8943-1

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.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

Rev. date: 02/24/2020

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Don’t forget—no one else sees the world the way you do, so no one else can tell the stories that you have to tell.

Charles de Lint

Life doesn’t just happen. You happen to life. You decide how you want to write your story.

Julie Foudy

I believe that every life is a collection of individual journey stories.

Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Some life experiences are personally chosen, and some are divinely destined. Sometimes they are one and the same.

The Author

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to people during my lifetime or the characters in my stories who significantly encouraged, supported, inspired, or lifted me higher along my journey toward becoming the person who I am today.

Family

Charlie C. Harper (Maternal Grandfather)

Reatha Mae Harper (Mother)

Elizabeth Robinson (Aunt)

Rubye G. Thomas (Aunt)

John Calvin Harper (Uncle)

Judy McClain Francis and Ida Ross Johnson (Cousins)

Dr. Bentley L. Patterson-Gibson (Wife, 1974-1984)

Jacqueline A. Harper (Wife, 1991-2005)

Frederick V. Harper and Renfred D. Harper (Sons)

Phoenix, Christopher, Gabrielle, and Frederick (Grandchildren)

Teachers and Professors

[Mrs.] Johnson (3rd Grade Teacher

Alverta P. Cook (6th Grade Teacher)

Norma Bland (High School English Teacher)

Dr. Richard T. Hadley (High School Music Teacher)

Sarah L. Rice (Sunday School Teacher)

Dr. John Eaves (EWC, College Instructor)

Dorothy Gaither (EWC, College Instructor)

Dr. A. A. Abraham (FAMU, University Professor)

Dr. W. Hugh Stickler (FSU, University Professor)

Dr. Joyce Chick (FSU, Professor and My Academic Advisor)

Neighbor, Mentors, and Professional Colleagues

Leola Hart (Neighbor, Mother of my Childhood Male Friends)

Dr. Carroll L. L. Miller (Mentor, Howard University)

Dr. Andrew Billingsley (Mentor and Colleague, Howard University)

Dr. Constance M. Ellison (Colleague, Howard University)

Longtime Constant Friends of 50 Years

Dr. Frances Yvonne Hicks

Paul Wellington Smith

Dr. Winifred O. Stone

Note. Mrs. Leola Hart was the mother of four sons who were my first childhood friends. On many occasions, I sat at her dinner table with her sons and family and ate. She was an excellent cook and like a second mother to me. I spent much time at her home playing with her sons.

EWC, Edward Waters College

FAMU, Florida A & M University

FSU, Florida State University

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SPIRITUAL STORIES

1 Tracy’s Prophecies for Me: Write the Book and Tell the Stories

2 My Unpublished Autobiography: Sealed in 1974

3 Death Be Not Proud: A Near-Death Experience

4 Other Close Calls: Death, Injury, and Criminal Assault

5 The 1982 Air Florida Plane Crash: I Was at the Scene

6 The of Jim: Faith, God, and Will Power over Medicine

7 Frances, First Love Lost to Heaven Too Soon

8 The Hair Salon Prophecy

9 Prophetic Writing of a Novel, The Durabone Prophecies

10 Prophecy of My Mother’s Death

11 Prophecy of My Marriage: My Mother’s Message from Heaven

12 Premonitions: Michael J. Jackson’s, Whitney Houston’s, and Jeane L. Dixon’s Deaths

13 Prophetic Message for Maxine of En Vogue

14 My Ex-wife’s Late Mother’s Earthly Twin

15 Stories Related to My Conference Speeches on Spirituality

16 Spiritual Challenges or Valleys in My Life: 1963, 1973, 1983

17 Plane Crashes and Other Global Catastrophes During My International Trips

18 Prophetic Intuitions: Mega Million and Dog Races

19 A Motorcycle, a Wife, and God’s Second Chance

20 911 – Terrorist Attacks on the Pentagon and the Twin Towers

21 Stories of Telepathy and Clairvoyance

22 Stories of Those Who Received Messages from the Spirit World

23 Spiritual Mindfulness of Symbolism (Numbers and Alphabets)

24 My Jogging as God’s Salvation for Me

25 Father Abraham: Man of God or Man for Money

STORIES ABOUT RACE AND RACISM

26 Stories about Race and Racism I: Childhood, Youth, and Young Adult

27 Stories about Race and Racism II: Doctoral Study and the City of Tallahassee

STORIES ABOUT MY FAMILY, CHILDHOOD, AND TEEN YOUTH

28 Stories about My Ancestry

29 Grand Matriarch, Mary Elizabeth Harper—Mother of 16 Children

30 My Father’s Death: A Lost Family Final1y Found

31 Mischievous Times under My Grandmother’s Care

32 Challenges of Childhood and Youth

33 School Grades 1 and 2: My Initial Hatred of School

34 Mother Sarah L. Rice, My Sunday School Teacher

35 Mrs. Cook: Master Teacher and Helping Angel

36 Boy Scouts, Boys Need Men to Become Men

37 Stories of the Boy School Safety Patrol

38 Three Incidents: Looking into the Barrel of Three Guns

39 A High School Teacher and a Book That Changed My Life

STORIES OF PARENTHOOD AND PARENTING

40 My Sons: Childhood Manipulation, Imitation, and Inquiry

41 Myself, My Son: Frederick Vencil

42 Myself, My Son: Renfred Douglas

STORIES: AS A STUDENT, TEACHER/PROFESSOR, COUNSELOR, AND CONSULTANT

43 Stories of My Outstanding College Instructors, Professors, and Mentors

44 Stories from My Professional Teaching

45 Counseling Cases of Friendships Gone Bad

46 Counseling and Consultation Cases about Human Sexuality

47 False Complaint of Sexual Harassment

48 Stories of Other False Rumors in My Name, but C’est La Vie (That’s Life)

49 Stories of Cherished Words from Friends, Students, and a Colleague

50 Stories and Mentions: 42 Years of Employment at Howard University

STORIES ABOUT HUMAN NATURE AND HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS

51 Stories of Deadly or Near-Deadly Shootings over Love and Money

52 Stories of Paradoxes and Ironies in Life

53 Stories of Unclaimed, Hopeful, and Failed Relationships

MY LONGTIME CONSTANT FRIENDS AND OTHER FRIENDSHIPS ALONG MY JOURNEY

54 Stories of My Longtime, Constant Friends of 49-plus Years

INTRODUCTION

The Stories is a book about the stories in my life and not the story of my life. It is about the stories of meaningful spiritual events and meaningful spiritual encounters with others over my lifetime. Moreover, I share stories as a youth growing up in the South under Jim Crow racial segregation and stories as a pioneer and leader of civil rights. There are stories as a school and college student, public school teacher, university professor for 42 years, professional counselor, professional consultant, parent, child, and friend. Many of these stories are amazing in term of their spiritual implications, social dynamics, and psychological dynamics.

This book reflects my learned beliefs from such stories and from my journey here on planet Earth for 76 years and not just the beliefs taught to me by family, culture, and formal education. Every person has stories. Every significant encounter may result in a story. Every village or stage of life’s journey is filled with stories.

My writing of this book was prophesied in 1997. The prophecy occurred during a lunch meeting with a young, African American woman, who possessed the gift to know, and our mutual friend who introduced her to me. During that lunch meeting, the clairvoyant or prophetic woman told me, I’m being told that you must write the book and tell the stories. Neither of us knew the meaning of her prophecy. However, after publishing my 700-plus page novel 14 years later in 2011, I realized that this was the book that was prophesied. The novel was an exhaustive undertaking and major work, and there were numerous spiritual events and symbols that occurred to me before and during the journey of my writing the 1,200-page manuscript. I was driven like never before to finish this writing project.

During my lifetime, I’ve learned that we often meet people for a purpose or reason. Some people may meet us once or as a single encounter, for example, on an airplane, and we never see them again. Some people come into our life for a matter of weeks, months, or years. They come or are spiritually sent to help us along a segment of our journey, and sometimes they come into our life for us to help them by our association and assistance. Also, at times, the encounter is about mutual help or it may sometimes be for a destined shared purpose. Nonetheless, it cannot always be assumed that the meeting is pleasant, because some people are sent by God to test our will, patience, and tolerance or, even more, to teach us lessons of higher spiritual living and to hone us for accomplishing a purpose or mission in life. As I look back, I now believe that God’s spirit guides have led me along a rightful journey, and God’s guardian angels have protected me along my way.

I have learned through my experience that a human being can channel a message or information from a spirit existence to another human being. I have received spiritual messages from earthly human channels, and I have been used as a spiritual channel to give a message to others. Like my mother, I have the gift to know things, and sometimes I can know without knowing that I know. For example, at age 18, I recorded in my high school yearbook that my ambition was to become a novelist. I didn’t think much or more of this for decades. At that age, I probably chose novelist as my ambition, because I thought it was something cool to put in my yearbook. Nevertheless, I really wasn’t serious about or expected to become a novelist. However, 50 years later, I published a major novel. Was this self-prophecy? Did I know my future far ahead of time without consciously knowing that I knew? Was my life script spiritually written before or at birth? Certainly, there were many experiences in my life that prepared me for the writing of the novel that I eventually wrote.

To a degree, I believe that our script in life may be written, destined, or even anointed ahead of time, and we can receive valuable information or messages by way of spirit guides or from a spirit existence in the fulfillment of our life script. For example, within this book, I share the story of how the spirit of my late mother came to me to inform me who my next wife would be. As the story is told in this book, I sat to talk to a young woman for the first time, and within minutes a halo image of my late mother appeared around the woman’s head. Then, a thought came into my consciousness, This will be your next wife. Without my conscious effort to establish an intimate relationship with the woman, it so happened that we married five years later and created a wonderful son together. Was our marriage a part of my life script, and did the spirit of my late mother know ahead of time or even play a role to influence my future?

There is much I believe that we do not know about a Divine existence that is God, whom I call The Universal Spirit. There is much that we do not know about spiritual energy beyond us that may intuitively come into our consciousness without perception through our senses. Some knowledge, I believe, may come to us during sleep via our dreams, which has been true of thoughts and words for my writings on numerous occasions. Some knowledge or insight may come in the form of a vision, as my late mother’s spirit came to me to prophesy the identity of my future wife. Some knowledge or insight may come to us through human beings who serve as God’s spiritual channels.

Each person is a story. Each person has a significant life story or stories within or from his or her lifetime. Each person’s story or stories are linked to other people over time and places and sometimes over generations. My life story, up to this point, has been linked to many other stories in the lives of people whom I’ve encountered once or whom I have known over a period of time along my way. I believe that many living souls who come to us in our lifetime may have a message or meaning regarding a purpose for us or for someone we may know, that is, if we only observe and listen. By the same token, we may have a spiritual message for people whom we meet in life. Edgar Cayce, arguably the greatest clairvoyant or seer of the 20th century, noted that, Individuals do not meet by chance. They are necessary in the experiences of others, though they may not always use their opportunities in a spiritual way or manner.¹ Along the same line, Rabbi Lawrence Kushner (1999) wrote that, Everyone carries with them at least one and probably many pieces to someone else’s puzzle. Sometimes they know it. Sometimes they don’t.

Some people come to us and some are sent by divine powers of God as spirit guides. On the one hand, we may receive from others or transmit to others a message without knowledge of the meaning of the message, and, on the other hand, we may receive from others or transmit to others a message with prophetic understanding of the message by both parties. As mentioned previously, I’ve learned and now believe that we can receive knowledge with immediate understanding or we can know without knowing that we know. Even more, we may come to know or understand an event or prophecy as time passes in our lives. Examples of such phenomena will be presented in some of the stories within these pages.

Have you had a person or persons to ask you, What is my purpose? I have learned or come to believe that when a person asks you this question more than once, it means that you have the answer or you are the answer. For example, a highly spiritual female friend of my told me more than 15 years ago that she was committed to celibacy for the remainder of her life and had dedicated her life to helping needy others in some way. She wanted more detail about her purpose and how and where she should help. She stated that she prayed to God over and over in asking, What is my purpose? She said that finally she was told, apparently by God, You’re to be a light. She asked me more than once, What does that mean, that I’m to be a light? I really didn’t have an answer for my friend at the time. Nonetheless, in a couple of years after her inquiry to me, I wrote and published a book titled, The Light Within Us (Harper, 2007). It was only after I published this book that I realized and told her that this is your answer.

There are many people who have confided to me stories about a near-death experience or an experience of the spirit of a deceased loved one who came to them in a dream or during a conscious vision to tell them not to grieve because they were happy and at peace where they were. Many of these self-disclosing persons were strangers at professional conferences or on commercial airline flights who just started talking to me as a stranger. It seems that these people felt that I was one who could accept unconditionally their confidence or stories without rejecting them, judging them, or thinking that they were mentally unstable.

As a channel myself, I tell the story within this book of the spirit of a man who died in a commercial airliner crash and apparently used me as a channel. The man’s spirit seemingly used me as a channel to tell his widow not to worry about him. Interestingly, I was en route home from work in my car on a heavily snowy day in January of 1982 when the Air Florida plane crashed just about a half mile from my location. It was also quite interesting or unusual that the deceased man’s widow purchased our house some months later. After our house sale, I frequently saw the widow in public as if she was being put before me, so I spontaneously asked if she wanted to have lunch in the near future—thinking that our repeated encounters were meaningful. She chose a Japanese restaurant that she favored and had frequented with her deceased husband. At our lunch, I repeatedly received a message as a sort of thought transference. After repeated attempts to avoid or block out the channeled message that repeatedly came into my consciousness, the following words uncontrollably flew from my lips, Your husband wants you to know that he is okay. After that lunch meeting, I did not see the widow for quite some time, because I probably has served my purpose as a channel.

The following list briefly describes additional stories within this book:

1. The story of a woman whom I met at a counseling conference in Utrecht, the Netherland, who looked like the twin of the photos I had seen of my ex-wife’s late mother who had died before our marriage. She was drawn to me and followed me throughout the conference, so I questioned her and found out that there were similarities between her life events and those of my ex-wife’s late mother. In the story, I explain why I concluded that she was a human channel of the spirit of my ex-wife’s late mother. In the story, I explain how I concluded this.

2. The story of my near-death experience at age 23 when I was courageously competing with other male university students to swim underwater the length of an Olympic-size pool. I blanked out under water and was pulled from the pool and resuscitated. The story tells what happened later to the young man who pulled me from the swimming pool and saved my life.

3. The stories of my premonitions of the deaths of Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, and Jeane Dixon.

4. The story of a clairvoyant woman whom I had never met who walked up to me in a hair salon as I was getting a haircut. She apologized for intruding and told me some things about my childhood that were true. Then she stated, As long as you do God’s will, you will not have to worry about your health. That was in 1983, and I have enjoyed excellent health over the 36 years since the clairvoyant woman’s prophecy for me.

5. The stories of how my greatest life challenges (e.g., extreme financial challenge and marital separation-divorce) all occurred during years that ended in three: 1963, 1973, 1983, and 2003. Interestingly, I was born in a year that ended in three (1943) during the third month (March) of the year.

6. The racial stories of my life during Jim Crow racial segregation, racial discrimination, and early racial desegregation periods. For example, a White secretary who refused to type for me as the first African American professional at a community college; the story of a White instructor at the same college who refused to grade a Black student’s essay because she believed no Black person could write that well; the story of two White policemen who stopped two high school boys and me in 1960 for walking to school while Black. One of the policemen pointed a shotgun at us and cocked it—a sound that I will never forget.

7. The story of the writing of my novel, The Durabone Prophecies, and how the plot spiritually unfolded to me in dreams and visions as I wrote, how the title of the book came to me from a clairvoyant character of the story as I typed on the computer, how special people came into my life or were sent my God to inspire and assist me in my mission to complete the novel’s manuscript, and how they all had something in common with the novel’s characters and prophecies.

8. The inspirational story of Jim, who was in his late 50s or early 60s when I first saw him using a walker in my favorite park as I was jogging. Later, after meeting him, he told me that he had refused to follow doctors’ advice to amputate his leg. As self-rehabilitation, he initially used a walker in the park; then, he eventually was able to only use a cane. Soon afterwards, he was able to walk without a cane or any aid, and he even began to swim and go to social events and dance.

9. The stories of my most influential and inspirational mentors, teachers, instructors, and professors during my school and college/university education.

10. The story of how I saved the life of one of my female master’s degree students at a last-day-of-class party. She began to choke on a piece of pizza, gasp for air, and become faint. I asked her to stand while I quickly pulled her chair out from her. I performed the Heimlich Maneuver on her based on a demonstration that I had seen on TV.

11. The story of how I hated first and second grades of public school, because I was behind when I started first grade, because I never attended kindergarten or any type of preschool. A story of how my third-grade teacher, Mrs. Johnson, discovered my photographic memory and promoted me from the third group to the first group or number one group in the class.

12. The stories of people who shared that they chose their parents before conception and birth. Even my younger son, at age three, once looked up at his mother and me and said, I picked my parents when I was in the sky.

13. The story of how I had a frightening dream that involved the spirit of one of my dead great aunts who, in the dream, hugged me with ice-cold hands and a silly grin on her face. I shared the dream with my mother who told me not to tell anyone, because the first person you tell will die. My mother was the first and only person that I told about the frightening dream, and she died about a month after my dream.

14. The stories of child-rearing (my two sons)—how they manipulated their adult parents and the interesting questions they would ask, for example, my older son at age three asked, while sitting in the front passenger seat of my car: Dad, where do babies come from? And on another occasion, How would you protect me if a bad guy tried to get me? Also, Dad, did you have any other kids before Mom and me?

15. The stories of my ancestors and how the souls or spirits of some of them may have prevailed in me, including the soul and spirit of my paternal grandfather who was a writer as I. Furthermore, the outstanding legacy of my maternal great grandmother, Mary Elizabeth, who gave birth to 16 biological children and lived to her mid-80s, a long time for a person born in 1860.

There have been meaningful experiences during my lifetime as reflected by some of the stories described in this book—experiences that have taken me to a high or higher level of spirituality. I realize more and more with each blessing and eye-opening experience that there is no time to brag about my earthly accomplishments, but rather to drudge on in doing God’s will mainly through my work as a writer, teacher, and helper. I also realize that striving to develop and share the light of talent from within me is much more important than stumbling over my ego in an attempt to satisfy the need for esteem or public approval.

I believe that we should ask ourselves as human beings: Is the world a better place because I lived and was a part of it? Is my job setting or the space in which I’ve worked a better place because I occupied a place in that space over a period of my journey? Have I had a positive impact on people, and, if so, how many people and to what degree?

The stories within this book have contributed to my current worldview, which is still evolving with new experiences. I am sure there will be new stories in the future of my life, if I am blessed to remain healthy and live longer. If so, some of these new stories may be added to a new edition of this book.

Note

¹ See the Website below for the quote by Edgar Cayce, Individuals do not meet by chance. They are necessary in the experiences of others, though they may not always use their opportunities in a spiritual way or manner. http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1161755-individuals-do-not-meet-by-chance-they-are-necessary-in

References

Cayce, E. (2017). Edgar Cayce Quotes. Retrieved October 9, 2017 from http://www.azquotes.com/author/21590-Edgar_Cayce

Harper, F. D. (2007). The light within us. Bloomington, IN: Authorhouse.

Kushner, L. (1999). Honey from the rock: An introduction to Jewish mysticism. Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing.

As author, I express my gratitude to Dr. Sharon B. Haynes and Dr. Jasmine V. Watkins for their comments on the manuscript for this book.

Cover Photos of Author: On the front cover of the book is a current photo of the author at age 76, taken in 2019 at a restaurant. On the back cover is a photo of the author at age 22, taken in 1965 as a senior in college.

Story 1

Tracy’s Prophecies for Me: "Write

the Book and Tell the Stories"

I’m being told that you must write the book and tell the stories.

Tracy Wiggins, a clairvoyant

The writing of this book was prophesied in 1997 by a young woman by the name of Tracy Wiggins. Tracy was introduced to me by Allyson Sharp whom I got to know when she was a textbook sales representative at Howard University for a major publisher. From time to time, Allyson visited the university to promote Prentice-Hall textbooks for possible course adoption by me and other professors in my academic department. One day during Allyson’s visit to discuss new textbooks for consideration, we discussed my own writings. I told her that although I wrote scholarly books and articles, at the present time I was finishing up a creative book of poetry and prose by the title of God’s Gifts: Spiritual Writings. Allyson and I briefly discussed spirituality during that visit, and she then told me that she had a spiritual friend who had the natural gift to know things—in other words a clairvoyant or one with the gift to see the future and know present thought without use of the normal senses. I’ve learned during my lifetime that there are people who have a spiritual message for you, and there are others, such as Allyson, whose purpose is to connect you with a person who has a spiritual message for you or some meaningful role in your future life.

During a subsequent textbook promotion visit to my university campus, either Allyson or I suggested that the two of us meet with her clairvoyant friend Tracy over lunch. Allyson told me in advance that Tracy had the gift to know and to read others without effort as well as to read the future of others. During the spring of 1997, the three of us agreed to meet for lunch and soon thereafter met at Hogates, a popular Washington, D.C. seafood restaurant previously located on the Potomac River in the Southwest section of the city. This popular restaurant and favorite of many unfortunately closed for business in 2010.

I arrived early for our lunch meeting. I met Allyson and Tracy in the lobby of the restaurant after their arrival minutes later but on time. When Allyson introduced me, Tracy told me immediately that she could not hug or touch me, because this would interfere with any spiritual connection to me or knowledge about me. Tracy is African American, and, at the time, she was about 30 years of age, medium brown in skin complexion, and thin to average in body weight. I was curious to know what Tracy had to say about me and my future. The restaurant’s hostess gave us a nicely located table by the window which gave us a view of the outside scene of the famous Potomac River, boats, trees, clouds, and the sky. As I looked out, I was reminded that it was cloudy or hazy and without sunshine on this day.

As I recall, initially the three of us talked about small warm-up topics such as how Allyson and Tracy met as fellow students in undergraduate college. We also talked about Hogates restaurant and the type of food that it served, as I had previously eaten there a number of times. We soon got onto the topic of spirituality and our views about spirituality. Within 15 minutes or so of our sitting at the table, I was of one mind with Tracy. I knew within my conscious mind what she was about to say before the words came out of her mouth, that is, in a sort of thought transference. This reality or connection amused and amazed me—because, apparently, I knew not only her thoughts but her exact words before she spoke them. Allyson also participated in the conversation by interpreting some of Tracy’s comments, if she felt that I did not fully understand the true meaning of Tracy’s communication to me. Although Allyson seemingly didn’t have the same psychic or clairvoyant gift as Tracy, she had the ability somehow to interpret what Tracy was saying to me, that is, if I seemingly did not perceive it as intended. I don’t know if this ability was based on her knowledge of Tracy as a close friend or whether Allyson just had the gift to interpret spiritual knowledge and prophecy.

The female server twice asked us if we were ready to order, but we were so engrossed in our discussion that we had lost focus on deciding what we wanted to eat. Seemingly, our thoughts and spiritual focus had suppressed our physical hunger. The restaurant server even commented on the intense spiritual energy at our table. Upon the third visit to our table by the server, we felt the need to make a decision about what to eat, so I recommended the buffet, which always had a great variety of seafoods, other dishes, and desserts. This was agreeable to the ladies.

Prior to getting our buffet food, Tracy said that she could not pick up anything from me regarding clairvoyant or spiritual messages, but as we talked and began to eat, the overcast weather conditions outside changed from dreary, dark clouds to sunshine with a rainbow. Upon the appearance of sunshine and the rainbow, Tracy told me the following, "I don’t know what this means, but I’m being told that you must write the book and tell the stories." She also said to me that when two people meet as spiritually destined, they usually have something to give to each other. She didn’t explain the nature of the gift except to suggest that it was something that was useful or meaningful.

At the time of first meeting Tracy, I had just finished the initial draft of the manuscript for my book, God’s Gifts: Spiritual Writings. I promised Tracy during our Hogates lunch meeting that I would mail her a copy of the book manuscript, and that I welcomed her comments.

Several days after our lunch meeting, I mailed the book manuscript to Tracy. After she had read the manuscript, she told me that I was on a higher level of spiritual growth than she, and that she had something to give to me. The passage below from my God’s Gifts: Spiritual Writings describes Tracy’s very meaningful gift to me (Harper, 2003):

A spiritually gifted person, Tracy, as a youth, received a vision of the image that appears on the front cover of this book [God’s Gifts …]. After drawing the vision from her mind’s image, she received a psychic message that in the future she would find out what to do with the drawing. After reading the unpublished manuscript of God’s Gifts …, Tracy unselfishly gave me the gift of her artwork, stating that I was meant to have it and use it with this book. Tracy had interpreted the abstract figures in her drawing as dancers. However, when I first saw the artwork, I immediately perceived the figure in the middle of the image as a spirit ascending to heaven and the two outer figures as spirit guides or angels. To me, the abstract artwork also has symbolic meaning for each person who chooses to follow a spiritual path of goodwill on Earth and, in doing so, is protected by God’s spirit guides as well as helped by numerous human beings along that path—a path of growing as a human being and giving back to others. (p. iv)

Below is an image of the front cover of my book God’s Gifts: Spiritual Writings with Tracy’s artwork thereon:

1.jpg

My gift to Tracy was the book manuscript and its spiritual words and thoughts, which I believe came directly from God or God’s spirit guides that watch over me and come to me from time to time with ideas and even words for my writings. Some of the spirit guides, I believe, are spirits of some of my ancestors as well as non-ancestral souls before me.

After my lunch with Tracy and Allyson, Allyson e-mailed me with another prophecy from Tracy that was related to my younger son, whom she and Tracy once met when he was a toddler of three and a half years of age. Tracy stated that our younger son, Renfred, would be someone important and successful in life when he grew up.

At this point, Tracy’s prophecy is becoming true because Jacqueline and my son, Renfred, is 26 years of age and a 2015 college graduate. As a high school senior, he won first place in advanced piano, and as a college freshman he made all A’s for the academic year regardless of challenging science and mathematics courses and an initial major in bioengineering. He later changed his major to computer science with bioengineering and music as minors. As a major in computer science, Renfred became a national leader among college students in software engineering—winning competitive programming awards at several conferences. Although Renfred’s mother, Jacqueline, and I are proud of him as his parents, he remains very humble and spiritual about life. It seems that he is on the path of Tracy’s prophecy for him. I pray that Renfred will stay focused on his purpose and mission in life, and that God will continue to protect him and guide his journey.

During Renfred’s entire life, his mother and I have tried to give him the experiences and the necessary equipment and resources to succeed at a high level. We have also tried to be positive role models of working hard and doing the right things in life. When our son became 18, I told him that I would try not to give him advice or influence his decisions about his life, for example, decisions about friends or a wife, what to study in college, and where to travel. I did suggest that he get international or cross-cultural experiences, which he did by doing a computer internship in Canada during his last year of college. When Renfred turned 18 and became a legal adult, we as his parents allowed him full responsibility for his choices and decisions. Nevertheless, I prayed that he would continue to be in the hands of God and God’s spirit guides, some of whom may be his ancestors. I also treated my older son, Frederick, in the same manner of providing experiences and support and not trying to tell him how to live his life once he became age 18 or a legal adult.

Reflections and Afterthoughts

We must always ask ourselves if prophecy for us is destined; do we contribute to making the prophecy come true, or is it a little of both? As I look back over my life, there have been things that I’ve done or been driven to pursue without my conscious awareness of the reason or full understanding of why or what the outcome would be. As Tracy had prophesied in 1997, I eventually wrote the book, The Durabone Prophecies, which was the longest book that I have ever written at more than 700 book pages (Harper, 2011). Also, the book turned out to be a novel, which I unknowingly and unintentionally self-prophesied at age 18, when I wrote in the high school yearbook of my graduating class that I would become a novelist, although I didn’t think much or more about becoming a novelist until 1999, which was 38 years after my high school graduation. Isn’t it also interesting that my novel was partly related to a book manuscript that my father’s father wrote and never published? Although I never met my paternal grandfather and never saw a copy of his manuscript (which was lost after his death), I often wondered if I had a destined mission to complete his goal of publishing his book or a book with content that was similar to his book manuscript, which was titled Utopia II? Also, isn’t it interesting that I started feverishly writing on the manuscript of the novel in 1999, two years after Tracy prophesied that I was to write the book? Furthermore, I started writing the novel for some reason without relating my effort to Tracy’s prophecy about writing the the book.

When I began writing the novel, I didn’t think that it could be the book, as prophesied by Tracy, until the 1,200 typewritten manuscript was published. As I look back over events related to the writing of the novel, isn’t it interesting that I was led by some unknown force to buy a copy of a novel by the title of The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler and to read it in 1999 for a second time, which was 38 years after my first reading as a college freshman? Unaware to me when I started writing my novel, isn’t it interesting that Samuel Butler’s novel has intergenerational family themes just as my novel, as if God and God’s spirit guides were giving me a reading assignment to prepare me and nudge me to start the writing of my novel? Isn’t it also interesting that I started to write my novel without knowing in advance the entire plot or story, and that it took 11 years for me to complete the writing of the book manuscript as if I had to wait for experiences and spiritual knowledge to come to me, including the title of the book and the entire story or plot?

From my experiences, I’ve come to believe that sometimes a divine life script is written or laid out for us, and we have to choose whether to follow that script as God’s plan for us and as conveyed to us by spirit guides that may include our ancestors (such as my paternal grandfather who was a writer). There is much that we do not know about spiritual energy beyond our world; however, we have to believe and choose based on our faith in The Universal Spirit as God or a spiritual existence that can protect and guide our lives in special ways for good cause.

References

Butler, S. (1998). The way of all flesh. New York: Random House. (Originally published, 1903)

Harper, F. D. (2003). God’s gifts: Spiritual writings. Bloomington, IN: Authorhouse.

Harper, F. D. (2011). The Durabone prophecies. Bloomington, IN: Authorhouse.

Story 2

My Unpublished Autobiography: Sealed in 1974

Some things are made to be; some things are meant to be.

The Author

In the fall of 1972, after two years of full-time teaching at Howard University, I took leave without pay for the academic year (1972-1973) to finish two book manuscripts. One book manuscript was titled Black Students: White Campus, that was published in 1975, and the other manuscript was for a book that was to be the story of my life or an autobiography. I had achieved much and had gone through much for a person of my age of 29, so I thought I had something to share, especially during a time when the U.S. was interested in knowing about the Black cultural experience—although this White American interest was fading somewhat.

During that academic year of leave from Howard University, I spent most of those months in Florida (my home state). I finished the manuscript on Black Students: White Campus as well as the one on the story of my life. Also, I spent much of my time jogging and typing, that is, typing on an electric IBM typewriter, of course, without today’s privilege of spell check, grammar check, and convenient electronic corrections. Much of that year away from my university job was a year of reflection and challenge—a period in my life when I was alone much of the time (as required to write) and a year when I depleted my savings and actually ran out of money for necessities before returning to the university. It was a blessing that Howard University took me back, because I didn’t have tenure or a continuing contract during my first two years of teaching. I did, however, acquire tenure and promotion to associate professor upon my return to the university in 1973.

The autobiography that I wrote and finished in the spring of 1973 was close to 400 double-spaced typewritten pages—not very long considering some published autobiographies. It was the typical autobiography in chronological sequence from infancy to the current time and place in my life. Wherein that book manuscript was the "story of my life, this book manuscript is about the stories in my life." There is a big difference between my worldview¹ of 1973 and my worldview now.

Currently, with my advancing years and wisdom from life’s experiences, I have come to believe if not know that our blessings as human beings many times come from The Universal Spirit as God and spirit guides as well as human guides and helpers whom we encounter in our earthly life along our journey. Therefore, as a young prideful man of age 29 to 30, I wrote mainly of my accomplishments and challenges over my lifetime. Now, more than 46 years later, I have written about stories in my life that reflect spiritual encounters, prophetic knowledge, and wisdom about human nature from my myriad experiences. With chronological years and experiences, I have truly been humbled by time, challenges, and blessings.

On July 31, 2014, I was led by some spiritual thought or knowledge to look through storage boxes in my garage to try to find and unseal the autobiographical manuscript that I finished writing in 1973 and tried to publish up to 1974. Back then, I mailed the manuscript to several publishers. A couple of publishers reviewed it and considered it as a possibility. However, it was the beginning of a period when American readers, especially Whites, were becoming saturated with African American literature and discussions of Black Studies, the Black experience, and White racism. When I spoke at several conferences and universities during 1972, I heard for the first time this sentiment being labeled as the new White backlash. In other words, some White Americans were beginning to think out loudly that, It’s time for us to stop focusing on Black issues and look at addressing our own White problems and needs once more. Seemingly, the altruism and feeling of guilt that followed the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. four years earlier in 1968 had begun to diminish among Whites who had then felt a remorseful need to do something positive to help African Americans in memory and honor of Dr. King.

Now, let me get back to my impulse on July 31, 2014 to search my garage boxes for the 1973 autobiographical manuscript of my life. After retiring in 2012, I went through boxes in my garage to both inventory what I possessed and to throw away or give away things that I concluded I no longer needed. In the process, I ran across the sealed copy of the 1973 autobiography that I had wrapped in brown paper that’s used for postal packages. I had labeled the package with the title that I had chosen for a book in case I acquired a publisher—the title Victories of Value.

I knew that the manuscript was in my garage when I had the impulse to look for it on July 31, 2014, during the summer when I was seriously writing the manuscript for The Stories, that is, because I didn’t recall throwing it away. Within 30 minutes of my garage search, I was able to locate the box with the autobiographical manuscript. I brought the manuscript into my dining room and placed it on my table—planning ceremoniously to open it after eating a late lunch. It had been 40 years since I sealed it, so I had both an eerie and curious feeling about opening it to scan over words that I had written four decades ago. My opening of the package with the manuscript was considered to be quite a spiritual and meaningful event for me, because the manuscript and its ideas had been sealed for so long and because I felt that I was led by God or spirit guides to open it at this time to aid in if not inspire my writing of The Stories. When I opened the package, the paper had become somewhat browned around the edges, and the whole manuscript had that smell of old paper. It was a feeling that I was opening up a recording of my life as I saw it some 40-plus years ago, when I had a totally different worldview.

In 1974, after several failures to get an offer or contract for publication of my autobiographical manuscript, I gave up on the idea and sealed the manuscript. It simply was costing too much money (postage and copying) and too much time to send copies to various publishers. Of course, during that time, there was no e-mail, electronic copies, Internet postings or else. Even more, I did not have a book agent or could not afford or find one to take on securing a publisher for the manuscript.

Now, as I look back, I wonder if it was not meant for me to publish the contents of that manuscript at that time. Maybe my writing of that autobiographical manuscript was a recording of the facts of and in my life up to that 1973 year for later use such as the writing of this current book, The Stories.

Certainly, some of the facts and recorded memories in the 1973 autobiographical manuscript were somewhat helpful in writing the book manuscript for The Stories; yet, I remind you that The Stories is not simply a continuation of my life story from 1973; it is a different type of book. Again, The Stories is not the story of my life but the stories in my life or the stories over my lifetime—stories mainly with themes of spirituality, prophecy, race relations, parenthood, human nature, and stories from my childhood. I only consulted or read segments of my 1973 manuscript, and, for some reason, I have not been motivated to read the entire manuscript. There is limited information in the 1973 manuscript, because it only covered 30 years of my life, and many additional experiences in my life came afterwards, that is, in the previous 46 years of my living as of this 2019 year.

I believe that I have walked a path and followed a spiritual script that brought me to a point of readiness for writing The Stories, a book that I believe was prophesied in 1997 by Tracy at our lunch meeting. As I mentioned earlier in this book, Tracy stated to me, "I don’t know what this means, but I’m