Surely, Here Comes a Prophet

By Steven D. Ayres

The “Prophet” whose father, who had worked in the steel mills there, had imprinted an unexplainable “Connection” to the old farm of almost 200 years, and to myself, and to my family.

Both steel poles, had the same vertical imprint, standing about eight feet apart. I never knew, there was a special connection there, a special meaning nor a special person, who would one day come into my life as the “Prophet!”

The book had been finished for three days!


Go into life and do thou likewise . . . “So Sayeth the Prophet”

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Apr 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669817697

Steven D. Ayres

Steven D. Ayres, known as “Steve” to his many friends, has written three books, which are all included in this one volume, GLORY ROAD, The Saga Lives On. As a graduate of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and post-graduate studies at Mercer University, Macon, Georgia, and after retiring from the Real Estate Industry. He has authored three historical novels about The American Civil War, The Veteran Age and The Modern American in which we all live today. A Family Saga, if you will, that covers 150 years plus and over seven generations. And after retiring from the real estate industry, he still lives with his wife Beth, down on the family farm.

Book preview

Copyright © 2022 by Steven D. Ayres.

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: 04/07/2022

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Contents

About The Author

Introduction

Chapter 1 The Annunciation

Chapter 2 The Duration

Chapter 3 Revelations

Chapter 4 Be Careful

Chapter 5 Opportunity Knocks

Chapter 6 Opportunity is Slippery

Chapter 7 Gratitude is No Slouch

Chapter 8 Be Persistent

Chapter 9 Be Consistent

Chapter 10 No Two People are the Same

Chapter 11 There May Be Hardships Along The Way

Chapter 12 On to Greatness or Something Else

Chapter 13 Don’t Confuse Contentedness with Complacency and Vice Versa

Chapter 14 Life is Hard

Chapter 15 Be Decisive

Chapter 16 It is Okay to Change Your Mind

Chapter 17 Live Your Life with Grace and Purpose

Chapter 18 Goal Setting Can Get You There

Chapter 19 Certain Things

Chapter 20 Who is God?

Chapter 21 Education

Chapter 22 Find Your Essence

Chapter 23 Religion

Chapter 24 Eat Well

Chapter 25 Sleep Well

Chapter 26 Self-Reliance

Chapter 27 Work Hard

Chapter 28 Health

Chapter 29 Sex

Chapter 30 Mind, Body, and Soul

Chapter 31 Drive Carefully

Chapter 32 The Environment

Chapter 33 Pets

Chapter 34 Adventure

Chapter 35 Savor the Flavor of Old Age

Chapter 36 Choose Your Roads Wisely and Take God with You

Chapter 37 Drink Plenty of Water and Stay Hydrated

Chapter 38 Be Loyal

Chapter 39 Be Patient

Chapter 40 Be Kind

Chapter 41 Be Okay with Getting Older

Chapter 42 Remember Those Hobbies

Chapter 43 Read, Listen, and Watch

Chapter 44 Keep Up with The World

Chapter 45 Take Care of Yourself and Others

Chapter 46 Strive to Maintain Balance in Your Life

Chapter 47 Do Not Be Judgmental

Chapter 48 Develop a Good Work Ethic

Chapter 49 Save Some Money along the Way Every Day

Chapter 50 Be Enthusiastic

Chapter 51 Live Your Life with Spirituality

Chapter 52 Mortality versus Immortality

Chapter 53 The Legacy of Your Life

Chapter 54 At Age One Hundred

Epilogue

Reflection

Epitaph

To

01-12-2022_XL_PR_838883_Page_153.jpg

Carl Price, the Prophet,

the man who inspired these words.

Thanks to my good friend.

The Prophet, whose father had worked in the steel mills, had imprinted an unexplainable connection to the old farm of almost two hundred years and to myself and to my family.

Both steel poles had the same vertical imprint, standing about eight feet apart. I never knew there was a special connection there, a special meaning, or a special person who would one day come into my life as the Prophet.

The book had been finished for three days.

Go into life and do thou likewise, so sayeth the Prophet.

About The Author

Steven D. Ayres was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in the West End community and attended People Street Elementary School for kindergarten. His family lived three doors up from the Wren’s Nest, the home of Atlanta Constitution editor Joel Chandler Harris, author of the beloved Uncle Remus tales. So naturally, the Uncle Remus Library, just up the street, helped develop in him a growing natural attraction for the Old South and everything in it.

Early on, his family moved to the Lithia Springs area and bought a run-down old farm that they began to reestablish. He attended the local schools there and eventually went on to receive an associate’s degree in arts and sciences from Oxford College of Emory University and later a bachelor of business administration degree from Emory University Goizueta School of Business and afterward studied law for one year at Mercer University. In the meantime, he studied with the Famous Artists School of New Haven, Connecticut, by correspondence and also obtained his Georgia real estate broker’s license and private pilot license.

He loves history, art, music, motorcycles, aviation, reading, writing, and many other areas of personal interests. He resides on the old family farm with his wife Beth, and they enjoy a menagerie of animals.

He has written and published four historical novels and is now presenting his fifth book, Here Comes a Prophet.

Welcome to Surely, Here Comes a Prophet, a story of words and thoughts about us all as we live through and approach the extremities of life itself.

From humble beginnings to the mountaintop peaks of achievement, we travel mind and body through the travails and the God-given ecstasy of existence.

Introduction

This book is a story about trust, living, brotherly love, and the rationality of living in an equitable world.

It deals with the day-to-day problems and challenges of living in our past, current, and future socioeconomic existence with one another.

We examine life principles, our tolerances and love for one another, and the questions of life that affect us all as a part of humanity.

The Prophet will hopefully give you pause to think and hope as you, too, ponder upon these things.

- The Author

CHAPTER 1

The Annunciation

Above all, I consider myself a writer, a storyteller of tales.

There is a drive to share those stories that both question and confirm our own existence in this world. No story is alike, and no two people are identical. Life is made up of the unfettered integration of facts and figures, truths and lies, good and bad.

Now we begin an investigation of these things as it relates to two people and the fated intertwining of their two lives and families over an unspecified period, which we shall call the duration.

There was a time during the warm summer of 2019 when fate would lead me to the discovery of something deeper than my own thoughts on a mild summer day.

A furniture store had caught my attention, and having some extra time, I decided to peruse its inventory and see what they had and how expensive it was and that sort of thing. It was one of the finer stores of our area, and I was anxious to find what might be some good deals and anything that might fit my needs.

Needs, my needs, may be an operative word at this point, for I really had no known needs, mostly just wants. Little did I know that my heart would be opened that day instead of my wallet. My mind would be opened as well, for I spent much time for a causal visit. I spent no money at all, although there was much to be desired and consumed, but I found something else much more intrinsic and valuable and enigmatic to my personality. I found, I believe, a spirit, a parallel personality, a person, a man, perhaps a prophet.

Whoa, whoa, slow down, I told myself. This is all moving along perhaps too fast. I am not sure I feel comfortable about this. But the presence went on, and it gently persisted.

This person, this man whom I had never met before, never seen, and never known existed, was the fated salesperson who was assigned by lot to me as I came in the door to this establishment. It was his turn to accompany the next customer as this was the way their sales force operated, giving any salesperson equal and fair opportunity to advance their daily sales and quotas.

This person was impeccable in every way. He was wearing a nice-quality business suit, shirt, and tie and shoes that sparkled in their shine, and he had a personal presentation and demeanor that just blew me away without warning.

I was just looking, I said as I began to size up the situation—a situation of strange balance and imbalance, a condition that sort of amalgamated as we proceeded, as we went throughout the large store. I was not buying, and he was not selling, but we were talking—conversing, I would say—about this and about that, nothing important but serious, it seemed, and meaningful to us and to us alone.

Somewhere along the way, we came to some mutual understanding unspoken with words, which confused us both and left us at the end with no furniture and no order.

But somehow, we had both bought much more, a budding but compelling friendship that transcended the