Nothing Is Forever, Forever Is Now, by Betsy

How often are these words spoken: “I’ll love you forever.  I’ll hate him/her forever. His/her spirit will live forever. His/her work will go on forever. Etc.”  Well, I think we all know what that REALLY means. Forever means as long as the person speaking the words is here on this planet in human form willing and able to relate to the person, experience the event, do the deed, or whatever. And that period of time and place is very small indeed when put in the context of the timeless universe and even in the context of geologic time as we now understand it. The real meaning of forever is something I cannot comprehend. Forever can only be in a place where there is no time dimension or a dimension much different from anything we can possibly imagine.

As for our world, this world that we know, forever is a relative term.  “I will love you forever,” is a much longer forever than, say, “I was on hold forever,” or “I waited in line forever.”  Even the forever in, “I will be forever grateful to you for the ride,” the life of that forever is totally dependent on the life of the memory of the person who says the words.

The fact of it is that to me it makes no difference what the real meaning is.  We mostly understand what a person means when they use the word forever. And I am trying, really trying, to live in the NOW.  So, in the end, which will also be the NOW, does it matter what the real meaning is? I don’t think so.  Did I just say that forever is now?  I’m going to stop right here and now.

© 20 Mar 2016 

About the Author 

Betsy has been active in the GLBT community including PFLAG, the Denver Women’s Chorus, OLOC (Old Lesbians Organizing for Change), and the GLBT Community Center. She has been retired from the human services field for 20 years. Since her retirement, her major activities have included tennis, camping, traveling, teaching skiing as a volunteer instructor with the National Sports Center for the Disabled, reading, writing, and learning. Betsy came out as a lesbian after 25 years of marriage. She has a close relationship with her three children and four grandchildren. Betsy says her greatest and most meaningful enjoyment comes from sharing her life with her partner of 30 years, Gillian Edwards.