Liz at Letting me Be is my guardian angel. Without her I wouldn’t be blogging any more. She’s posted a comment to add to my little blog contest. I think she chose this because she knew I’d like it. It’s my kind of spacey rumination. Thank you, Liz. The post is called Glittering Flower Commerati.

Blogzilla’s ‘Zilla posted the comment to a post called The Flower.

‘Zilla said…
“The flower spends no time
thinking about being a flower.”

Who presumes what a flower thinks about, or does not think about?

Perhaps one of the many beauties of a flower is that, if it dares to speak of what humans may be thinking, we cannot hear it.

D. T. Suzuki would have been proud. Just be the flower and speak in flower thoughts.

Technorati tags- Glittering Commentari, Great Comments, best blog comments, blog contests

From Clive’s Gone Away, some amazing comment strings. He saved the real Chateaubriand for the end. I decided it was too dense for breakfast. So I chose this juicy piece of tenderloin to chew on, certainly an acceptable light meal for an Englishman, even in America. And also because it inspired a poem.

Ken wrote in response to Some Doom and Gloom:

History suggests to me that any imperialist culture which boasts of its own power has failed to understand that the seeds of its own mortality have already been sown. Leaders who define their ability to act in terms of the size of the budgets they wield rather than the social unity of their people have missed the point and have nothing to contribute except further ruin. Any society that reduces human life to an actuarial transaction designed to advantage those who already control the lion’s share of the wealth is bound to destroy itself in the longer term. We are in the endgame and the outlook is bleak. The carnage in New Orleans and the recent bombings in London are merely symptoms of an underlying illness which takes in huge areas of the planet. I wrote a poem recently which I called “Earthspeak” and, having read your piece, I think I’ll post it tonight.
Date Added: 02/09/2005

Ken did post the poem and it gives food for thought too.

Sounds like someone has been into the Toynbee jar. Can the US rise to the challenge of the next world age, giving birth to a new global civilization? Or will it slide into firey oblivion festering in its own hubris? Toynbee argued that “Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.” Stay tuned for next centuries exciting episode.

Technorati tags- Glittering Commentari, Great Comments, best blog comments, blog contests

Comments are a reflection of how good your blog is. In some cases, they are amazing posts in themselves. After six months of blogging, I’ve come to realize that interaction through comments is the most gratifying part of it.

David Bonta at Via Negativa posted some of his better comments from recent posts, and it made for an interesting read. I thought I’d play with that. Plus Duncan over at The Blog Herald is having 100 blogs in 100 days contest, so why not one on comments. And thanks also to Darren Riley’s Blog Crush idea at Problogger.

If you want to show off how inspiring your posts are, write a post which includes the following items.

1. Feature some great comments from your blog. Comments need to make some sense on their own. Short conversations are fine. They can be funny, inspiring, beautiful, or just plain good writing. Post as many as you like.
2. Please include links to:
   a) the 90 Great Comments list post.
   b) GlitteringMuse
   c) the author of the comment and
   d) the post which inspired the comment.
3. Encourage your readers to do the same on their blogs…I know there are lots of great comments out there!

Send me the link to your Great Comments post by email (garnet at glitteringstew dot com), or comment on this post.

That’s it. It’s pretty simple. I’ll check out your post and choose a great comment daily for however many days. Everyone can share all the wit, inspiration and fun their blogs inspired.

If I really get 90 great comments posted here, at the end I’ll post a public vote on the Very Best of the Greatest Comments. So this could end up a real contest. Maybe even with some prizes. We’ll see how far this goes.

I’d like to start the day off with two favorite comments to posts I wrote.

The first is by Liz at Letting Me Be. She has taken a fancy to my blog and has given me enviable support in her comments. (I think she treats everyone with the same generosity, but I’d like to think otherwise) This comment responded to a little sad poem I wrote. (as a comment actually, to another poem) Thank you, Liz for your many wonderful comments.

My forehead
moves to frowining aggravation
to think that someone might have been
sending words that have no thought
no moment’s tender taking
to spare for a kind one,
a strong and gentle man

for Garnet
from
Liz

The second comment is from a post about responsibility, and I suggested we (Americans) are all responsible for the failings of the US at home and in the world. The full post is here.

Here is the comment, made by Karen

As a Canadian, who met and fell in love with an American, then moved here and had a child …all within the last 6 years… it breaks my heart to see how hard Americans seem to be on themselves.

Last year was a tough year for my family. We struggled financially, went without several comforts, no gas to heat our home, no stove to cook on, no running hot water… yet we knew in our hearts it was our responsibility to turn our situation around. It wasn’t the country’s fault, it wasn’t the government’s fault, and even though the sudden stop in cash flow came as a result of an injury on the job suffered by my husband, we didn’t blame his company, his Union, the inability to qualify for disability…

No. We looked at this country as the land of opportunity. We borrowed from family and friends to turn opportunity into financial stability and we paid back every cent within 14 short months. It wasn’t easy, but it was our responsibility – and we met it head on.

I say this not to impress, but to impress upon any who care to read this that America really is the land of the free, rich and flowing with opportunities, filled to the brim with caring souls …also ready to fight the good fight for the less able abroad.

In it’s own way, on a much longer time-line, this great nation has earned its richness through trials, tribulations, making mistakes along the way and learning from those mistakes to evolve higher.

Yes, it is just a child when compared with the overall age of nations… and yet, in many ways it is far more enlightened than some nations centuries older… nations who choose not to learn from their mistakes, choose not to grow, choose to ignore their responsibilities to themselves and their people.

As a country, America doesn’t have to be the first to respond… the first to send troops, send aid, send food, send help of any kind. They don’t have to be last to respond. They could choose not to respond at all. They could sit back and enjoy their riches and look solely and exclusively after their own, pretend they are an island unto themselves …and then where would the world be?

When is the world going to highlight this nation’s generosity, instead of pointing a finger asking — is this all your giving?

As a nation, is America supposed to be embarrassed by its own fortunate circumstances? Would the world think better of this country if it were more humble about its own wealth? Would it make the country as a whole less of a target in the eye of terrorists? Somehow, I doubt it.

It reminds me of the parable and the 3 bags of gold.

One buries his gold and waits for his master’s return. Another invests it in a bank and earns a small return. And the third…

I don’t think the USA is meant to bury its gold, nor sit on it like some countries have. I think it should stand up proud in its accomplishments, hard-won has they have been, and inspire others to greatness in the process.

Just my humble opinion. I hope it doesn’t offend.

Please be kind to yourself.

Technorati tags- Glittering Commentari, Great Comments, best blog comments, blog contests

If you want to show off how inspiring your posts are, write a post which includes the following items.

1. Feature some great comments from your blog. Comments need to make some sense on their own. Short conversations are fine. They can be funny, inspiring, beautiful, or just plain good writing. Post as many as you like.
2. Please include links to:
a) the Great Comments List guidelines.
b) GlitteringMuse
c) the author of the comment and
d) the post which inspired the comment.
3. Tell your readers to do the same on their blogs…Spread the word. I know there are lots of great comments out there!

Send me the link to your Great Comments post by email (garnet at glitteringstew dot com), or comment on the 90 Great Comments post.

That’s it. It’s pretty simple. The nice thing is that you get linked to, as well as your commenter, and I get a link as well. Linkiness all around! I’ll check out your post and choose a great comment daily or so for however many days. Everyone can share all the wit, inspiration and fun their blogs inspired.

If I really get 90 great comments posted here, at the end I’ll post a public vote on the Very Best of the Greatest Comments. So this could end up a real contest. Maybe even with some prizes. We’ll see how far this goes.