Re: a comment on The Poop Machines by dougsoderstrom	23-Jul-04/2:27 PM
Nicholas: Your quite welcome. Doug
Re: a comment on The Poop Machines by dougsoderstrom	23-Jul-04/2:26 PM
TAMARAG67: An absolutely wonderful comment to a "not so wonderful" poem! Doug
Re: a comment on The Two Temperaments of Man by dougsoderstrom	19-Jul-04/12:36 PM
Dear Dovina: Thanks for your suggestions. Doug
Re: Searching by dougsoderstrom	18-Jul-04/11:11 AM
The best to you, Doug
Re: a comment on Searching by dougsoderstrom	14-Jul-04/1:15 PM
Dear Dark Angel: Oh.... I really do not feel that the conversation in which we have been engaging is, as you say, "appalling stupid." As it is rather clear to me that you are a pretty smart fellow and also a rather good writer (as I have really enjoyed some of your finer poems. Personally, I feel that some of the things you have broought to my attention have been rather relevant... and even perhaps a bit enlightening. The best to you. Your Friend, Doug
Re: a comment on Searching by dougsoderstrom	14-Jul-04/11:51 AM
Dear Dark Angel: Yes you are right....... As my return is no doubt "quite greasy!" And not only do people believe that I must lack integrity returning to Poemranker as I have, but, even more importantly, there is little doubt in my own mind that I have illustrated the fact that "I have no integrity at all" due to the sleasy way I have chosen to return to Poemranker. Thank you again for your help. Your Friend, Doug Soderstrom
Re: a comment on Searching by dougsoderstrom	14-Jul-04/11:44 AM
Dear Dark Angel: Let's face it.....I guess that I am a fraud, and perhaps even just a "small piece of shit" trying to enable myself to feel better at the unfortunate expense of bring shame to so many others (the college in which I work, Poemranker, as well as others who write such fine poetry on The Poemranker Site. I am sorry, and I'll try to do better in the future. Thanks for your help, and I sincerely hope that you will choose to forgive me. Thank you very much. Your Friend, Doug Soderstrom, Ph.D.
Re: a comment on Searching by dougsoderstrom	14-Jul-04/8:58 AM
Dear Dark Angel: No, I do not resent the fact that the younger, less experienced Instructors have the same academic rank as myself, because the only thing that matters to me is that of doing a good job of teaching in the classroom. And the fact is that there are very good teachers at all ages........ Some of the younger ones may well need more experience in order to be at their best, while, at the same time, there are older teachers who have lost either their desire or ability to teach well in the classroom.....and it would be better for all if they chose to retire. However, in my own case, I feel that I am still doing a pretty good job of teaching, but I do plan to retire two years from last May. The best to you. Doug
Re: a comment on Searching by dougsoderstrom	13-Jul-04/12:41 PM
Dear Dark Angel: All my life, I have felt like "a piece of shit." So your referring to be as something akin to that (having been "hopelessly embrowned") does not at all surprise me. So, as you will see, I am not bothered. It is okay. The best to you. Doug
Re: a comment on Searching by dougsoderstrom	13-Jul-04/12:37 PM
Dear Zodiac: The fact is that I have been teaching psychology at the college level for the past 38 years (I am now 63 years old), and where I work, it is true, that there is no academic rank (such as Assisstant Professor, Associate Professor, or Full Professor) associated with our tenure at the college where I teach. Every teacher, regardless of their age, number of years taught, or how many degrees one has achieved has the same rank: that of Instructor. However, given the fact that I have 38 years of successful teaching experience at the collegiate level, have two master's degrees and a Ph.D. in my field of psychology, have been chosen twice to be in Marquis Who's Who Among America's Teachers, I feel that I have "the generic right" to refer to myself as a "Professor"...... especially since where I work being a professor is an impossiblity. The best to you. Love, Doug
Re: a comment on Searching by dougsoderstrom	13-Jul-04/12:18 PM
Dear Zodiac: Thank you.
Re: a comment on Searching by dougsoderstrom	13-Jul-04/12:15 PM
Dear Dave: Thank you.
Re: a comment on Searching by dougsoderstrom	12-Jul-04/1:43 PM
Dear Dark Angel: No, as it turns out, what has led to my return to poemranker is a desire to be with you, a desire to be able to share our different points of view with each other. Love, Doug
Re: a comment on Searching by dougsoderstrom	12-Jul-04/8:19 AM
Well, Dark Angel, I guess you must be right and I am wrong. You are, no doubt, a very fine man, and I am perhaps "a dunce of the first class." Love, Doug
Re: a comment on Searching by dougsoderstrom	11-Jul-04/5:10 PM
Dovina, It was, as well, very nice talking with you. If you would ever like to visit again, feel free to contact me at: dougsod@wcjc.edu And the best to you. Your Friend, Doug Soderstrom Instructor of Psychology Wharton County Junior College Wharton, Texas
Re: a comment on Searching by dougsoderstrom	11-Jul-04/4:59 PM
Dear Dovina: My faith is not to be envied. I have my doubts just like anyone else. And often, the questions I ask, are asked with a whole lot of fear and trembling! In many ways, I would like to be able to go back to "the religious beliefs of my youth," when I was content "to be told the answers." But I cannot! I cannot go back, because of the questions that the good mind that God gave to me seem to "force me" to ask. When I was content to be "told the answers by others, I had only a high school education. But now, four college degrees later, I seem to have no choice but to take seriously the questions that seem to come so naturally to me at this point in my life. In some ways, I see my capacity to ask such questions as "a gift from God." But at other times, I feel as though they (such questions) are a great burden that I wish could be lifted from me. I am a college teacher.... and it is my belief that a good education consists not of answers, but rather to the continued asking of better and better questions; questions that become increasinly more incapable of being answered! When I was young, my faith gave me security without meaning, but now my faith brings me a great deal of meaning, but with a great deal of existential anxiety! It is a choice that one must make..... and I cannot tell another what to do.....because I do not even know for sure if what I am doing is right. It just seems that it is what I must do...... come Hell or highwater!
Re: a comment on Searching by dougsoderstrom	11-Jul-04/4:40 PM
Dear Dark Angel: You are wrong.... Dark Angel, since the real question is: "Who set you up as the judge of others; Who is it that decided that you have the right to call others such as myself "a dunce of the first class?" Judge not lest ye be judged yourself. I have the right to my thoughts, and you to yours, but please do not set yourself up as the allmighty judge of others.... allright, Dark Angel! If you cannot be at least halfway civil, then just please stay away. I will talk with you if you will are willing to conduct yourself in a decent and rational manner allright?
Re: a comment on Searching by dougsoderstrom	11-Jul-04/4:31 PM
Of course, some truth can be found..... such as 2+2=4, etc. But when dealing with the really complex realities of life such as: ---- Does God exist? ---- Who is God? ---- Is there a life after death, and, if so, what are the alternatives and of what do they consist.... Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, Reincarnation, nothing, etc.? ---- Who is more likely to go to Heaven or to Hell: One who lived an absolutely horrible life, but accepted Jesus Christ during the last day of his life OR one who has lived a life of empathic concern for others, a life of dedication to the poorest of the poor, but, for whatever reason, never made "a conscious" attempt to accept Jesus Christ as his or her savior? The real question comes down, I think, to something like this: What is most important "to have an answer, perhaps to have the one and only right (correct) answer, OR to ask good questions realizing that you may well never be able to find an answer (to such questions as I listed above), but doing so anyway, because you are convinced that the most important thing in life is to search in an absolutely honest (authentic) manner!
Re: a comment on Searching by dougsoderstrom	11-Jul-04/3:28 PM
Well, in my own mind....there is a basic ontological difference, (dealing with religion, politics, or whatever else) between wanting to achieve the psychological security that inevitably comes from "cheap answers to stupid and silly questions" as compared with "an honest search for The Truth" which inherently carries with it the realization that the 'real questions of life' have no answers..... therefore leaving one with an existential anxiety that can only be filled with the integrity of knowing that one has involved one's self in an honest search for an obviously incomprehensible Truth.
Re: a comment on Searching by dougsoderstrom	11-Jul-04/2:48 PM
The key is to notice that..... "to an unasked question"..... has quotes around it which referes to the liklihood that many people, especially in the arena of religion, simply want "answers" without having had the courage or the integrity to ask honest questions in the first place. In other words, so many people have little interest in wanting to move "just a little closer to the truth," rather they seem more interested in finding simplified answers that give them a superficial sense of security, however, at the expense of desensitizing them from having to deal with "the tough questions" of life. For example, here's the answer to "an unasked question:" Accept Jesus Christ as your own personal savior and you will be assured of going to Heaven. However, these are the questions that were as of yet "unasked:" What does it mean "to accept Jesus as one's savior?" What does it mean to "be saved?" Is it "a matter "of faith," or "works?" Could it (salvation) be a matter "of who, one in reality, actually is?".... which goes far beyond the issue of faith vs. works, and looks at the real question of who a human being at the deepest level of his or her being has chosen (consciously or unconsciously) to be. These are some of "the unasked questions" that many people avoid asking when looking for their "simple cookbook" answers.