I have a liking for mid-century modern furniture, yet, I don’t have the pocketbook for it. Instead, I own a couch that is older than me, and may even be older than my parents. It’s blue, dirt is one with the couch, and the seats are sunken in towards the middle. My boyfriend complains that it is too low and that I should get rid of it, but I refuse because I love the couch. In a seminary class, I was tasked with describing my ideal world where I find peace. It featured me, the boyfriend, my dog, and my couch. Yet all those things are either finite or temporary.
Just like the day in which I will have to get rid of my couch, finite is bad, as is getting to the bottom of a pint of ice cream and realizing that the pint does not have an infinite end. Yet, temporariness can be good. When temporary is awesome, it is the end of a workweek. We can go throughout our day or week pointing at the end of something and contemplate how its lack of permanence affects us. Temporariness is always around us, though we commonly do not take notice of the importance of temporary.
The world has meaning because the world is finite. And we are accustomed to things having an end. Celebratory moments are dear to us because they do not last forever. Buying cotton candy (my sweet tooth again) is special because it is a once in a while purchase.
Of course, the existence of my couch, eating cotton candy, and ice cream are small examples of finite moments, but the same lesson transfers over to irreplaceable moments and people in our lives. For all of us, we have or will experience the harsh reality of being in a world of non-permanency, whenever we lose someone we love, or go through dramatic and undesirable changes in our lives. But because we dwell in the reality of a world full of temporary, we cannot help but treasure what we have in our orbit.
Scripture reminds us of being in a world of temporary with these words, “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it,” Psalm 118:24. Though the rising of the sun seems destined, it is not guaranteed. Rather, it is a blessing from God. Take stock of what is temporary around you. You may be surprised by the reality that has not been given much thought. You may feel the need to reprioritize. Ice cream and cotton candy will taste sweeter, hugs will last longer, and the end of a work-week may actually be workless for once and awhile.
God's peace,
Pastor Alec Brock (he/him/his)