The First…March 26, 2012 Daily Reflection

The first bloom on my dogwood tree

What is it about the first…bloom of spring time…red leaf of fall…snow of the winter…hot day of summer…your first baby…your first kiss…your first job…your first date?
Does the significance lay in the awe of a first experience good or bad or the memory made? Do we remember because the first of anything was different than all the rest?

Why is it that when we have the second, third or fourth it is forgotten? All the middle children are stuck. The first child has tons of photos, scrapbooks and memories. The last child does as well because by the time you get to the last you realize just how quick that time passes. The middle children are just stuck unless of course they do something the other ones did not do. If their personalities are strong and they have characteristics that define them as memorable otherwise they are a bit lost in the shuffle.

The beginning and the end are milestones but what about all the in-between? We forget in the course of life that every breath is sacred, every word, every action, every, child and every moment. We take for granted the second spring time flower and suddenly there are so many leaves we have to rake and the snow makes our morning commute intolerable and the heat of the summer makes us long for the cold of the winter.

A woman who lost her legs saving her child from the terror of a tornado said I now hear the birds chirping and I feel the warm air on my face. She had a near death experience not just her own but also her children and the haze was lifted from her consciousness. Now she sees and acknowledges the in between. She sees it all as sacred, not just the first.

Do we need a near death experience to wake us up and clear the haze from our midst? Today, notice more than the first, enjoy the middle, make some memories with those middle children, give them some precious time, and inhale the scent of spring all the way through it this year! Don’t make it all about the first because God gave us the ability to experience every second not just the highlights.

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