{"id":1744,"date":"2024-01-24T13:56:42","date_gmt":"2024-01-24T18:56:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.redchairblogs.com\/holymoly\/?p=1743"},"modified":"2024-01-24T13:56:42","modified_gmt":"2024-01-24T18:56:42","slug":"everything-is-a-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/2024\/01\/24\/everything-is-a-first\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything Is a First"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier this week after dinner, my son randomly came up to my wife and me to share his new motto. He said he\u2019d been thinking about things and the motto kept popping up in his head. His new motto, he said, was, \u201cEverything is a first, so make the best of it.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We asked him to tell us more about this motto and he went on to say that everything we do is done for the first time because it is the only time we have. We talked about how true this is and how that can help him not worry about the future or feel bad about past mistakes. Then, we got a little silly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Since we were cleaning up dinner, we started joking about how cleaning this plate was the first time we\u2019ve ever cleaned a plate and we better make the best of it. It\u2019s the first time I was pushing in the dining table chair, so I better make the best of it. It\u2019s the first time we were standing in the kitchen at 6:59 p.m. on Tuesday, so we better make the best of it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet, his motto is actually quite profound and truthful. It reminded me of the book, <\/span>The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for an Age of Anxiety,<\/span><\/i> by Alan Watts. Published in 1951, Watts shows that in an age when people are experiencing unprecedented anxiety about the changing world, our fulfillment and joy can only be found by living more fully in the now. You might even say, our fulfillment and joy can only be found by living as if everything is a first.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the ancient scripture and collection of poems in the book of Lamentations, there is a text that talks about the Divine\u2019s mercies. Just as every morning is a fresh start, a new sunrise, a new day, so too are the Divine\u2019s mercy and love for all of creation. It is a reminder that no matter what we are enduring, whether it\u2019s great pain and suffering or deep joy and gratitude, we can trust that living in the newness of each day can bring us fulfillment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As we begin another new semester, whether we have been a part of the Hornet community for three days or three decades, it is my hope that today, in this moment, you can live as if it is your first. It\u2019s my hope that today brings you excitement, joy, and fulfillment. And it\u2019s my hope that today, in this moment, you make the best of it. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earlier this week after dinner, my son randomly came up to my wife and me to share his new motto. He said he\u2019d been thinking about things and the motto kept popping up in his head. His new motto, he …<\/p>\n

Everything Is a First<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nathan"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1QIf6-s8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1744\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}