A Glimpses of Wonder Entry

There’s something strange happening out there, and it’s not hiding in the woods or floating past Saturn. It’s closer. Much closer. In fact, it’s lodged right between a headline and a hashtag.

It’s the kind of thing you hear when someone leans forward and says with great conviction, "This is the first time this has happened since the last time it happened."

Well. Stop the presses.

We used to reserve the word “first” for fire, flight, and falling in love. Now it gets tossed around like free mints at the counter. First snow since last month’s snow. First time that team has won at home in a red jersey on a Thursday in over a year. First Tuesday since last Tuesday.

We are drowning in firsts that are not firsts. It’s like we got bored with real wonder and decided to start spray-painting the word AMAZING on yesterday’s leftovers.

Let’s rewind a bit.

Imagine the second guy to light a fire. The first guy’s still standing there, holding a stick that’s somehow glowing and crackling and keeping wild animals slightly more confused than afraid. The second guy lights his fire and announces, “This is the first time we’ve had fire... since yesterday.” No one claps. No one cares. They just toss another stick on the flames and get back to not freezing to death.

Same with the wheel. Maybe it took four to make anything roll, but it didn’t take long before somebody tried to reinvent it and claim credit for the whole invention. That’s how we got PowerPoint.

And let’s talk about gravity. It didn’t start the moment Newton got bonked in the head by a falling apple. It had already been hard at work since the beginning—holding oceans in place, keeping birds grounded when necessary, and ensuring toddlers fell down just often enough to learn caution. Newton didn’t invent gravity. He just noticed it in a particularly fruit-forward way.

Same thing with discovery. Columbus didn’t discover a land where people were already making soup. Leif Erikson might’ve beat him there. But truth be told, the folks already living on the land don’t get enough credit for being home when all these explorers arrived. If discovery means showing up and pointing at something someone else already owns, then I’ve discovered my neighbor’s lawn furniture twice this week.

And then there’s technology. Remember your first cell phone? It had buttons. It probably flipped open. If you were fancy, it had a tiny antenna you could dramatically extend for better reception while trying to impress someone who wasn’t looking. And yes, you butt-dialed people. You did. We all did.

But now? We have our first smartphone. Our first smart TV. Our first voice-activated AI that answers the doorbell and possibly judges our music taste. These aren’t new firsts. They’re sequels. Shinier, louder, software-updated sequels. And like most sequels, they don’t quite hit the same.

You don’t have to hype the firsts. That’s it.

Because some firsts are actually worth remembering—and they don’t come with a press release. They come with heart.

Remember... the first car I called my own—it wasn’t the first car ever, or even new. My uncle had it before me. But it was mine, and somehow, it still smelled like freedom.
Remember... the first time I kissed my wife—how everything else just fell away.
Remember... the first time my wife gave birth—when love took on weight and breath.
Remember... the first time I ate at Five Guys—when that first bite brought back the unmistakable taste of my grandmother’s hamburgers, and all the love that came with them.
Remember... the first time I held my grandchild’s tiny hand—like time started over.
Remember... the first time I realized I could still love more—when I thought I’d run out.

And then there are Jehovah’s firsts.

His first spirit son—the one who was beside Him "as a master worker."
The first day light appeared. And He simply said it was good.
The first plants. The first animals. The first man. The first woman—the first mind to think and feel like hers.

And we all agree...
It was good.

And yes—I realize you probably read this... on the Internet.
But don’t worry.
It really is the first time I’ve ever written it (even if, technically, we’ve rewritten it eight times just trying to put it together).