Table Of Content

JJoouurrnneeyy iinn tthhee FFiieellddss ooff FFoorreevveerr John Harricharan Other books by John Harricharan When You Can Walk on Water, Take the Boat Morning Has Been All Night Coming Remembering and Other Poems The Power Pause Journey in the Fields of Forever A New World Book Published by arrangement with the author All rights reserved. Copyright © 1999 by John Harricharan ISBN: 0-943477-02-6 0-943477-09-3 (3 volume set) A New World Book New World Publishing JHH & Associates, Inc., Georgia, U.S.A. Printed in the United States of America Dedicated to Malika Elizabeth and Jonathan Nian who exhibit, to a great degree, the innocence of children and the wisdom of the ancients. JJJJJooooouuuuurrrrrnnnnneeeeeyyyyy iiiiinnnnn ttttthhhhheeeee FFFFFiiiiieeeeellllldddddsssss ooooofffff FFFFFooooorrrrreeeeevvvvveeeeerrrrr Special Thanks My gratitude to Anita Bergen for the many hours she spent assisting me in bringing this manuscript into a readable form. No dearer friend could ever be asked for. Special appreciation to my brother, David Harricharan, whose support and encouragement were constantly felt. Had he not been my brother, I would have wanted him for a friend. And with great humility, my eternal gratitude to Rob- ert “Butch” James who made it possible for this book to be published. Every once in a long, long while the world is blessed by the presence of a soul such as Butch. I am doubly blessed to be able to call him my friend. vii JJJJJooooouuuuurrrrrnnnnneeeeeyyyyy iiiiinnnnn ttttthhhhheeeee FFFFFiiiiieeeeellllldddddsssss ooooofffff FFFFFooooorrrrreeeeevvvvveeeeerrrrr Table of Contents Introduction 1. The Return of Gideon 2. A Near-Life Experience 3. A Quiet Afternoon 4. The Birds and the Books 5. Return to Tomorrow 6. The Mills of the Gods 7. Islands in the Sun 8. Out There Somewhere 9. All Good Things 10. “Unto Everything There is a Season and a Time. . . .” 11. The Angel with the Golden Wings 12. The Jewel in the Crown 13. Once Upon a Dream 14. The Ambrose Stone 15. If You Plant a Redwood Tree . . . 16. The Terror of Trivandrum 17. The Greatest Secret in the Universe 18. In Trailing Clouds of Glory JJJJJooooouuuuurrrrrnnnnneeeeeyyyyy iiiiinnnnn ttttthhhhheeeee FFFFFiiiiieeeeellllldddddsssss ooooofffff FFFFFooooorrrrreeeeevvvvveeeeerrrrr Introduction P erhaps, in the never-ending search for meaning, not only does meaning seem to elude us, but we find ourselves faced with the eternal questions of life. Why do roadblocks always appear at the most inopportune moment? Where is help when we are down in the arena and boots are on our necks? Why am I here and where am I going? Will I ever again see my loved ones who have died? And so it goes . . . on and on. Although no one JJJJJooooohhhhhnnnnn HHHHHaaaaarrrrrrrrrriiiiiccccchhhhhaaaaarrrrraaaaannnnn could satisfactorily answer such questions, there is some- thing deep within each one of us that whispers hope and says that no matter how dark the way and how deep the snow, the paths of glory lead ever onward and all roads finally lead home. This book is the story of a journey in living. The charac- ters reveal to us a sense of joy and yet, at the same time, we feel their pain. This book is about me and you, about our constant, endless quest for that which seems unreachable. Some of us have already met in previous books such as When You Can Walk on Water, Take the Boat and Morning Has Been All Night Coming. Others of us will meet here for the first time and continue together on a fascinating voyage which leads through the fields of forever. As the world spins on with dizzying speed into the future, we find ourselves caught up in the uncertainties of our times. But such uncertainties are not new. They have always been with us since the days our ancestors roamed the wild, prehistoric plains and they will always be with us in the future. What we must do is reinterpret the way we look at the world. Perhaps, then, we may find that life is biased on the side of good, that difficulties have a way of passing,