An End to Forever
Can words become extinct? If so, will their meanings be re-incarnated in the afterlife? If you are wondering what I am talking about, you will soon understand, I hope.
More often than not, the word forever (adv.) is being used for lack of a better word. It is being used by people to describe or define, perhaps even embellish, their idealistic and limitless views of life, love and romance. However, does forever really exist? Or, is its meaning only an abstraction in our minds? As we have all witnessed, it can be a very subjective term that is manipulated and used in different contexts and with various connotations. We have all said it, seen it, or heard it, in either literature, poetry or song. Likewise, we have either said it or heard it, in an emphatic way, to or from our loved ones. My ex-girlfriend would often say, "I will love you forever"; since we are no longer together I can only assume that two years was what she really meant by that blanketed statement because that was the length of our relationship. In biblical terms, we believe that GOD is eternal, which also means forever. Problem is, the New Testament does not reference the word eternal or forever, rather it uses the word 'eon', a Greek word meaning a specific period of time, with a beginning and an END (religion is not my cup of tea, so I will just stop there). In another context, forever can be used to describe circumstance, like for example, the extinction of the dinosaurs that once roamed our planet. But, does extinction really mean that they have ceased to be forever, or, will it be only a matter of time before geneticists and scientists extract the nuclear material (i.e. DNA) from the remains of a mummified dinosaur and use it to artificially recreate a life that once was? I do believe that this will happen because let's face it, that's what science is all about.
Therefore, does forever really mean endless, everlasting, or eternal? Obviously, forever as we understand it, has NO conclusion. If however, us humans understand what life is, then we should also know that death is a consequence of life and that we will not live forever.
Over the course of my life I have probably used the term forever a gazillion times, but after giving it some deep thought, I have chosen to make a conscious effort to eliminate it from my vocabulary forever...Oops!
More often than not, the word forever (adv.) is being used for lack of a better word. It is being used by people to describe or define, perhaps even embellish, their idealistic and limitless views of life, love and romance. However, does forever really exist? Or, is its meaning only an abstraction in our minds? As we have all witnessed, it can be a very subjective term that is manipulated and used in different contexts and with various connotations. We have all said it, seen it, or heard it, in either literature, poetry or song. Likewise, we have either said it or heard it, in an emphatic way, to or from our loved ones. My ex-girlfriend would often say, "I will love you forever"; since we are no longer together I can only assume that two years was what she really meant by that blanketed statement because that was the length of our relationship. In biblical terms, we believe that GOD is eternal, which also means forever. Problem is, the New Testament does not reference the word eternal or forever, rather it uses the word 'eon', a Greek word meaning a specific period of time, with a beginning and an END (religion is not my cup of tea, so I will just stop there). In another context, forever can be used to describe circumstance, like for example, the extinction of the dinosaurs that once roamed our planet. But, does extinction really mean that they have ceased to be forever, or, will it be only a matter of time before geneticists and scientists extract the nuclear material (i.e. DNA) from the remains of a mummified dinosaur and use it to artificially recreate a life that once was? I do believe that this will happen because let's face it, that's what science is all about.
Therefore, does forever really mean endless, everlasting, or eternal? Obviously, forever as we understand it, has NO conclusion. If however, us humans understand what life is, then we should also know that death is a consequence of life and that we will not live forever.
Over the course of my life I have probably used the term forever a gazillion times, but after giving it some deep thought, I have chosen to make a conscious effort to eliminate it from my vocabulary forever...Oops!
posted by D-Rocks at 9:10 AM
8 Comments:
How do you feel about "never"?
ps Happy Birthday?
-Julie
I'll tell you how I feel about "never" the next time I see you...hopefully, sooner than later.
Thanks for the B-Day wishes!
~D-Rock
I would like to read something you wrote that you didnt like enough to post...
-juliechami@hotmail.com
'Forever' is the space between one heartbeat and the next.
Happy Birthday to ma boy...milles bisous!
Forever? Is there really such thing as forever?
I believe there is. It may be a long time, however, forever does very much exist.
Nobody has ever experienced forever, so how can somebody say it even exists?
Forever is as long as you make it.
Forever is as short as you make it.
Forever is what "WE" want it to be.
Forever exists in a different way to each of us.
Based on that analogy, then does 'yes' mean no, and 'no' mean yes? That is, if the meanings of words are whatever we want them to be???
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