Comment #1000

A month or so ago I saw that RtL was getting close to its one thousandth comment. I wondered idly who the commenter would be ... should we celebrate it? ... would it be profound? ... would it start a conversation? ... and so on.


This morning it happened. And it was so unexpected that it made me burst out laughing and then it got me to thinking.


Here it is, in its entirety:

This comment has been removed by the author. By Unknown on "...One of the Least of These ..." at 9:22 AM

Do you, along with me, see the perfectness of Comment #1000?! It could have been written by any of us; it could be by all of us. Each one of us has said or written things that we have scratched our heads about later (at best) or been severely rebuked over, either in our own consciences and minds or by someone else (at worst).


What a gift it is, this gift of a second chance, an opportunity to remove something that didn't come out exactly as intended! What a rare chance to have a do-over that's completely free!


It could have been something as little as a typo that caused the commenter to delete the comment. It might have been that a more appropriate word came to mind as soon as the "Publish comment" button was pressed. It might have been that the commenter had revealed too much of him- or herself than was comfortable. There are any number of reasons for removing a comment; I've done it myself on occasion.


But as I was speculating on the words that were removed, it was reenforced to me that words are some of the most powerful weapons we possess. I am so grateful to Unknown this morning for reminding me to choose my words well and to use them wisely.


And it also reminds me of how grateful I am each time you share your words with me and with your fellow RtLers. Whenever you comment, you're nurturing this vine (or is it this tea bush?!) on which we are all growing together.


Here's to the next 1000 comments!