The First-Time

Watching the Artemis II astronauts last night was all about ‘the first-time’… the first-time humans have been more than 250,000 miles from earth… the first-time humans have witnessed a solar eclipse from space… the first-time parts of the moon have been seen. Each ‘first-time’ will be remembered, a reference point for future space travel.

First-times are important … a baby’s first words, first steps, a child’s first day at school, their first day at high school… the first kiss, love, job, pay-cheque, car, heartbreak, house, marriage, child, hospital-stay, grandchild… Each ‘first’ is significant, memorable, a reference point.

In ‘Eat Pray Love’ Elizabeth Gilbert compares the first-time she suffered with depression,  to being lost in the woods: ‘Then night falls again and again, and you still have no idea where you are, and it’s time to admit that you’ve bewildered yourself so far off the path that you don’t even know which direction the sun rises anymore.’  Admitting it for the first-time.

On Sunday we remembered and celebrated the first Easter, the first signs that Jesus was alive, the first person that Jesus appeared to.

Our Wild Church community were on the beach at 7am ‘for an Easter Meditation defiantly saying that the love of God is stronger than violence and darkness…’ In Lowestoft, the most Easterly point of the UK, we’re the first to see the Easter sun rise.

However… The sun rises over the sea each day. I’ve seen it many times. Familiarity can cause it to lose significance, become less memorable.

But… Today the sun rose over the sea only once. It’s the first-time today, so it has unique beauty and significance…

Today I kissed my wife, said prayers, watched the woodpecker and squirrels. I shall have conversations with friends, play chess, go out for a meal.

If I think of them as things I’ve done many times before they’re ordinary. If I see each day containing a series of ‘first-time’ events, each gains importance and significance and becomes more valuable.