Open the Word: Everlasting

Everlasting

• When something is really good we want it to last forever. Scientists dream of discovering the secret of eternal motion or boundless energy. Lovers cling to each other, wanting their passion to burn intensely forever. Our favourite clothes wear out too quickly. We’re always replacing batteries, so advertising campaigns stress their ‘everlasting’ properties. Some see heaven as an everlasting life of bliss, while for others endless hymn singing is a nightmare.

• We consider it a tragedy if someone dies while still young. Yet insects have lifespans of just days, and some trees live for hundreds of years. There is a natural life cycle for each species. Why then do we want longer life? Do we want to preserve our existence because it’s programmed into our genes? Is it because life is so good we don’t want to lose it? Or because we are afraid of what might come after death?

• Death often appears as the ultimate enemy. Yet life is full of endings — days end, flowers fade, cloth wears out, relationships break down. Some endings are happy endings. Many children’s stories end with ‘They all lived happily ever after.’ A happy ending, when good succeeds and evil is defeated, lifts our spirits. Perhaps that’s why many would like life to end happily. But there are real fears that the world could end in nuclear explosion or biological warfare. Most likely the universe will simply run down into disorder.

• One ending we often try to avoid thinking about is our own death. Death can be sudden and like that it is both a shock and a painful tragedy. But we will all die. Is our only hope that there will be more life afterwards? Or is our hope that our lives have an end, a purpose — that life is of value and of significance? We will all draw our last breath, but will our lives have a lasting effect? What will be the end that we have lived for? Christian Aid has a slogan, ‘We believe in life before death’. That is a purpose worth living and dying for.