Screwtape Letters 2020 (Short Story) - 8/20/2022 1:56:16 PM
I found your story quite interesting but strange. And then, I noticed that you had it under the genre of essays. Normally that would be in the article area. Nonetheless, you did tell a story. And as I read, seem to have discovered the way to get young people who have lost their way to get back on track. I applaud that.
From my own experience, I have found that young people sometimes have to reach the very bottom where everything is totally hopeless, before they can find their way towards a more positive life. I've also said and written that there are two types of people: the builders and the takers. But sometimes the builders build the wrong thing in this competitive world.
I started out life very competitive and still retain a bit of that. But my life-changing paralysis required me to depend upon a lot of people and have found that working with groups gets impossible things done like Martin Luther King did using nonviolence.
Unlike you, I was gradually forced out of the rat race. But I always was attracted to wild places where I would go alone to contemplate how nature manages to make things right.
Ron
Sense of Humor (Short Story) - 11/4/2016 1:44:13 PM
Thanks Ron, I really appreciate your thoughtful comments, John
Sense of Humor (Short Story) - 11/3/2016 6:25:12 AM
I usually don't comment on religious articles or essays like this one unless they are sanctimonious or abusive, and then I like to poke holes in their logic.
On the contrary, I found this essay to be quite enlightening, showing me that religious people who look at the facts for what they are and pointing out hypocrisies can have a sense of humor.
Unfortunately, especially in this political season, so many people, in spite of facts to the contrary, think that the world is in very bad shape and that they are losing their identity and those things that they have culturally held dear. It doesn't help that the two primary American political parties have selected candidates for president of the United States that are unsatisfactory to most citizens of the country. One is being characterized as a buffoon, claiming he will solve all the problems dictatorially with promises that he will be unable to keep and using harsh language to demean people in the process. The other candidate is a member of a political dynasty and what is considered to be "the status quote" accused by association to be a "criminal" by the opposition.
Your essay is a refreshing light in the darkness. To all those who accuse and are too serious minded, I always ask them, "What would Christ do?"
Ron
The Story (Short Story) - 10/13/2016 7:05:10 AM
That is a great story with a very ironic ending. I'm not sure if it is original, but if it is, it certainly could be an episode of the Twilight Zone.
That also is a very fine article/essay describing the underlying psychology expressed in the story. Unfortunately, after doing scholarly articles and listening to and reading many like this, I skipped over it rather than spend an hour or two for the lesson of the day.
Ron
Civility (Short Story) - 10/11/2016 6:06:21 AM
Your article/essay is a very good lesson in how civilized people carry on discourse and solve problems. And it speaks heavily to the current political season with its heightened acrimony.
I have to remind you that many times in the past impolite and caustic language was used in political campaigns. From the time of Aaron Burr, Abraham Lincoln, and many others.
From time to time I feel impelled, particularity through satire, to reveal what the king is wearing. But I will never run for office so I am allowed to do that under my freedom of speech.
But you are so right. To use our freedom of speech just to be abusive and acrimonious, isn't higher discourse, but the lowest form of communication. Although some people in their fear and loathing, find no other way of expressing themselves. It's a "disaster, disgusting and an abomination." Those are not my words offered here in quotes. But they are words I've often heard lately referring to programs and people.
Ron
Deathing Miriam (Short Story) - 8/10/2001 11:12:04 AM
John…I absolutely loved your story. It brought tears of happiness to my eyes. Thank you!!!
The Quest for Meaning (Article) - 8/21/2022 11:56:14 AM
Wise words. I am at a point in my life where, having lived both ups and downs I don't let beliefs or emotions overcome my reaction to anything that is happening, including my death. I have accepted that I will die and welcome it when it comes.
Ron
Tumultuous times, these… (Article) - 4/19/2020 9:35:33 AM
A well thought out article that makes a lot of sense about what may be happening to some people who find themselves isolated. I am in a self-imposed stay-at-home mode since last October. Autonomic dysreflexia and extreme sweating caused by the condition makes it very difficult for me to go out in the wintertime because the sweating makes me cold and the dysreflexia stresses my intestinal tract leading to pain and diarrhea.
But I'm perfectly comfortable here communicating with friends and relatives via email and telephone (rarely). I enjoy spending a couple of hours commenting on everything posted here on AD, watching TV and the news, a little reading, and a little writing on two books that I'm working on. And then watching television shows, and sometimes, movies. Actually, I'm so busy that I don't have time to worry and only think about that I should be calling old friends to see how they are during this time. I'm not an introvert, but have always enjoyed living alone. And I'm not an overly extrovert who has to have contact with people all the time to be happy.
I am saddened by the lack of some people's willingness to discuss matters of great importance regarding religion and politics. They are so set in their ways. I watch the news to find out what is currently happening and pay no attention to the constant rehashing of what the news means and the sensationalizing that is supposed to get more viewers and therefore, more money.
I have been reading the fiftieth anniversary issue of Earth Day, by National Geographic. Some of our greatest thinkers in 1970 predicted dire consequences within the next 30 years. However, many of the trends predicted, turned out to be very positive, and while people monitoring the earth are finding that each year life gets better on many fronts (this year may be an exceptional), there are still those out there that claim that the world is getting worse, generally chasing down rumors and conspiracy theories that like you wrote, are more exciting than the mundane facts of life.
Ron
Puberty Love (Poetry) - 7/30/2001 4:08:53 PM
Excellent work..feel free to view my poetry at anytime, keep up the great work.....
Puberty Love (Poetry) - 7/17/2001 7:00:52 PM
this poem captures the true essence of love. it transcends the pre-pubescent heart's desires and creates its own plane of poetic harmony.
